The Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) was established by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to provide support for individuals and businesses that have been adversely impacted by the economic downturn. It will do so by enabling access to specialist support that can be provided by higher education institutions.
Coventry University's ECIF programme comprises five packages of support. These are designed to take advantage of existing capabilities and capacity within the University. Some are focused on individual industrial sectors. For information and contact details for the other support packages please refer to the ECIF overview.
A number of courses have been developed and delivered in a training room environment by Cogent Computing as part of this support package. These have resulted in very positive feedback from attendees. However, many companies have found it difficult to release employees for external training days in the current economic situation. In response, Cogent Computing has made a number of courses available online for employees of eligible companies.
The following courses are now available online until 30th September 2010:
CUECIF01 - E-commerce in the era of social-networking and Web 2.0 applications.
Business models for e-commerce have changed significantly since 1995 and this change has accelerated in the past three years with the advent of social networking applications and Web 2.0 tools. These applications have enabled profound new forms of business/customer interaction. However, these new models and applications require a new approach to understanding and catering for highly web-literate customers. This course intends to provide managers and marketing and communications staff with the tools to facilitate rich, profitable interactions with contemporary web customers.
The course is aimed at:
Download the CUECIF01 course descriptor for more details.
CUECIF03 - Networking and Software Development for new WSN applications, Tools and Methods.
This course is aimed at introducing tools and methods associated with developing the software for wireless sensor network devices. It is intended for a technical audience; however there are no specific prerequisites. Although the course deals with some advanced topics (such as simulating wireless sensor networks and design patterns), exercises will not require significant technical expertise in the specialist areas of wireless networking or embedded systems.
Overall Learning Objectives
At the end of the course, the attendee will:
• be able to make use of network simulation tools to test basic WSN algorithms in a realistic manner
• understand the limitations of such simulation tools
• gain familiarity with an off-the-shelf wireless sensor system and associated back-end software
• understand several recurring design patterns that occur for WSN applications
• understand the fundamentals of developing testing stubs that allow most debugging to be performed prior to using embedded devices.
Download the CUECIF03 course descriptor for more details.
CUECIF05 - State of the art in wireless instrumentation techniques, applications and off-the-shelf systems.
Overall Learning Objectives
A major goal of the course is to cultivate an awareness of the state of the art in wireless instrumentation including:
Participants will gain the ability to contextualize the offers in the field and relate them to their particular industry.
Download the CUECIF05 course descriptor for more details.
Course registration and access to materials is free of charge to employees of eligible businesses in England until 30th September, 2010. To be eligible for support under the niche manufacturing/automotive technology package within the Economic Challenge Investment Fund programme, your business must be involved in either of those sectors and have been adversely affected by the recession. Businesses that supply to the sectors or sell or use or advise on products from the sectors are eligible.
You don't have to answer yes to every question in order to be eligible. One positive answer in each set of questions will be enough to confirm the eligibility of your company. Download and complete the course-elibility form indicating the course(s) you are interested in and email to the course administrator at t.daniel@coventry.ac.uk or complete the online version of the form
Once we have confirmed your eligibility you will be emailed a link to the course website where you can register for an account. You will then be enrolled on the courses you have requested and able to access all course materials.
Download the course eligibility form OR complete the online version of the form.
For general information please contact:
Dr. Elena Gaura
Tel: 024 7688 8909
Email: e.gaura@coventry.ac.uk
or
Dr. James Brusey
Tel: 024 7688 7687
Email: j.brusey@coventry.ac.uk
