Digitalisation and Innovation for Sustainable Development
About the course
Do you work with issues where digitalization is used, or could be used, to solve problems of importance for sustainable development? Collaborate with engineering students in IT and take part in their proposed solutions!
The aim of the course is to give the students theoretical knowledge of sustainability problems, that they should meet companies and researchers who work with digitalization to develop solutions in this area, and that they themselves should gain experience of using their IT skills to develop solutions.
The course includes project work where the students apply knowledge and skills in ICT from previous courses to various problems connected to sustainable development.
About the students
The course Digitization and Innovation for Sustainable Development, 7.5 credits, is given in the third year of the engineering and bachelor's programs in information technology at KTH-Kista.
How
The project work is carried out in collaboration with an external client (company, association, research programme, authority or other organisation). The client formulates the overall project proposal, but it is the students' task to define the details of the project.
The project covers 5 credits (roughly 3 weeks of full-time work per student) and is done in groups of about 5 students. The students choose projects based on their interest in the clients' various project proposals.
The students present their work in writing in the form of a small research/investigation report and orally at a final seminar. It also happens that the students are invited to present their work to the client, but in that case this takes place outside the course itself.
The course is given in English, but many students speak Swedish, which means that some projects can largely be carried out in Swedish. Project reports are written in English.
Time line
| November | January | February | Mars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submit proposals | Course start | Supervision | Presentation |
Detailed schedule
Week 48: Last date to submit a completed project proposal (but get in touch well before then)
Week 3 -10: The course is carried out during this period
The client participates in two supervisor meetings, at KTH in Kista (Electrum). If necessary, it is also possible to participate online.
-
January, approx. week 4: Supervision, 45 min/group (exact day to be determined in November).
-
February, approx. week 6: Supervision, 45 min/group (exact day to be determined in November).
March, week 10: Final seminar (exact date to be determined in November).
Clients are welcome to attend the project presentations at KTH in Kista (Electrum)
During the project: Contact needs to be available by email/online/telephone to answer the students' questions if necessary.
Requirements for participating organizations
Companies and organizations that participate as clients for projects in the course participate in two supervisor sessions and are welcome to attend the final presentation.
Your role is to:
-
Before the start of the course: formulate the project assignment that the students read before choosing a project at the start of the course.
-
First supervision session: explain more about the background and goals of the project, answer the students' questions, provide access to information, materials, equipment from the company required to carry out the project, help define the project's direction and scope.
-
Second supervision session: Answer the students' questions, give feedback.
-
Between supervision sessions: Available to the students by phone or e-mail.
The students also have a supervisor from KTH, who is responsible for meeting the course objectives, supervising report writing, helping to define the project, etc.
Template for project proposal
Title in English
[Write in Swedish if the project can only be performed in Swedish for some reason]
Background
[Background to briefly introduce the problem, why you as a project commissioner are interested in the problem, challenges to be solved, why it is if relevance to both ICT and sustainable development.]
Aim
[Overall description of what the students are expected to do and something about expected results. It may be a very concrete problem to be solved, or an open question to address.]
Methods
[Methods that you want the students to apply may be specified or left to the students to decide.]
Other
[Indicate for instance if the project requires very specific skills, such as a certain programming language. Also indicate if the students will get access to certain hardware or software.]
Contact
Name, title
Company
Email
Phone