Year 2, Semester 3 (BD4SI) in Spring

Japanese-track follows the semester 3 in Spring. For this semester, students should mandatory follow the following courses:

Project (2 ECTS)
Abstract: In this course, students are involved in a project covering various aspects of the specialisation track.

Debates on Ethical Aspects of Big Data (2 ECTS)
Lecturer: Alberto Abello Gamazo
Abstract: In this course we debate the impact of new advances in Big Data on society, in particular wrt ethical issues. This course fosters the social competence of students by building on their acquired verbal communication skills to debate about concrete problems involving ethical issues in Big Data. The aim is to start developing their critical attitude and reflection. A written summary of their position is meant to train their writing skills.

Big Data Seminars (2 ECTS)
Lecturers: Oscar Romero Moral
Abstract: The students are introduced to recent trends in Big Data. Seminars are lectured by guest speakers, who present business cases, research topics, internships and master’s thesis subjects. Also, the three specialisations are presented and discussed with the students within the seminar’s umbrella. Students also perform state-of-the art research in one topic, which is presented and jointly evaluated by all participants.

Big Data Management (6 ECTS)
Lecturer: Alberto Abello Gamazo
Abstract: The main goal of this course is to analyse the technological and engineering needs of Big Data Management. Students learn advanced data management techniques (i.e., NOSQL solutions) that also scale with the infrastructure. Being Big Data Management the evolution of Data Warehousing, such knowledge is assumed in this course, which specifically focuses on the management of data Volume and Velocity.

Semantic Data Management/Open Data (6 ECTS)
Lecturer: Oscar Romero Moral
Abstract: Students are introduced to advanced database technologies, modelling techniques, and methods for tackling Variety for decision making. The focus of this course is on the need to enrich the available data (typically owned by the organization) with external repositories (with special attention paid to Open Data), in order to gain further insights into the organization business domain, for example: data coming from social networks such as Facebook or Twitter; data released by governmental bodies (such as town councils or governments); data coming from sensor networks (such as those in the city services within the Smart Cities paradigm); etc.

Machine Learning (6 ECTS)
Lecturer: Luis Antonio Belanche Muñoz
Abstract: The course is divided into conceptual parts, corresponding to several kinds of fundamental tasks: supervised learning (classification and regression), unsupervised learning (clustering, density estimation) and semi-supervised learning (reinforcement). Specific modeling techniques studied include artificial neural networks and support vector machines. An additional goal is getting acquainted with R, a powerful computing environment based on free software.

Viability of Business Projects (6 ECTS)
Lecturer: Alberto Abello Gamazo, Oscar Romero Moral
Abstract: The creation of a business idea, a business model, and the development of a business plan are the main outcomes of the VBP course. This course complements the technical background of students acquired in other specialisation courses with a business and entrepreneurship aspect.

Non Awarded courses

Spanish/Catalan (optional)
Abstract: This course, adapted to students’ proficiency, introduces them to Spanish (Catalan for native Spanish speakers).