Alkmaar, Netherlands - October 13, 2021 -For the second consecutive year, VU Amsterdam and the no-code application development platform Betty Blocks are working together to invest in a new digital generation. This time the partners are working together with a large national organization concerned with the security of our country and all its inhabitants. This organization will provide challenging real-life assignments and plays a role in the assessment of the 800 students that will be following the curriculum.
In order to participate in the program, students must choose the modules Business Information Technology and Business Information Systems, which are both part of the bachelor course Business Administration and International Business Administration. In the course of six weeks, the students will work on a digital solution.
They can choose from three different assignments, one of which entails developing an application that collects eyewitness statements, finds the similarities in their testimonies, and feeds the information back to the organization. The assignments are diverse and require advanced solutions. With the help of the Betty Blocks platform, the students don’t need any prior knowledge of coding.
A new generation of developers
“We are incredibly proud that for the second year in a row, so many potential citizen developers are working with our platform. More and more organizations work with blended BizDevOps teams. These teams consist of developers who are working together with colleagues who don’t have developing skills, but are tech-savvy enough to build an advanced solution if they have the right tools at hand: The so-called citizen developers. By constructing these kinds of teams in which different types of developers are working together, a new kind of collaboration and synergy arises,” Hans Berkhout, Customer Success Manager at Betty Blocks, explains.
Berkhout works together on this project with University professor Mark Boons. Boon states: “By introducing our students to low-code and no-code platforms, we give them a chance to work with tools they will most probably need in their future workplace. We are actually educating a new, digital generation. As Betty Blocks focuses on citizen development, the platform is designed to accommodate users and developers that don’t have any knowledge of coding. This was an absolute must when we selected the platform.”
Program
The program starts after the kickoff of the new academic year. Following the introduction, students start working with the platform immediately. During the program, they will be guided by VU professors and they will attend a guest lecture about citizen development from Betty Blocks. Students complete the program with a special pitch event at the end of October. During this event, students present their solution to a delegation of entrepreneurs and VU Amsterdam.
