SPARTA reopens enrollment for free online DSA courses

The Development Academy of the Philippines’ Project Smarter Philippines through Data Analytics, Research & Development, Training, and Adoption (SPARTA) officially reopened on April 14, 2023 its enrollment for free online data science and analytics (DSA) courses in its fourth year of implementation.

SPARTA also unveiled its new microspecialization pathway “Public Policy and Governance,” with five courses designed to train public servants in using analytics tools and applying statistical concepts in reinforcing government policies and administration.

The updated enrollment process and transition to the new learning management system called Linang were also discussed during the relaunch.

Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) President and Chief Executive Officer Atty. Engelbert C. Caronan, Jr., expressed his gratitude for another year of SPARTA’s implementation.

“Now in our fourth year, we are dedicated more than ever to equip more Filipinos with DSA skill sets and assist our scholars in completing their pathways and courses by designing a more enhanced learning experience,” he added.

SPARTA subject matter expert and University of the Philippines Assistant Professor Dr. Richelle Ann B. Juayong, delivered the keynote speech where she emphasized the continuous need for data analytics in various organizations.

She also echoed a study from the Analytics Association of the Philippines (AAP) that foresees the country to demand more than 500,000 analytics professionals in the information technology industry alone by year 2028.

Meanwhile, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Jomar Christian Camposano presented the role of government in the democratization of data analytics in the country.

The second half of the relaunch recognized the scholars who finished their pathways after 14 November 2023. SPARTA has produced a total of 71 main pathway graduates and 30 microspecialization pathway graduates.

Data Analyst Pathway graduate Hazel Maree Juanillas shared stories on how she made use of data analytics in her career as a research faculty.

“I was able to help them [students] analyze in a deeper [way] ‘yung mga data na nakukuha namin,” she shared.

Juanillas also underscored that she was able to improve her research process and content by applying her learnings from SPARTA’s courses, which according to her was instrumental in her recent awards in an international research conference and a dissertation grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

“I’m very thankful for Project SPARTA for giving me this opportunity to learn and improve what I already learned… [This relaunch] is bringing data-related education closer to the doors of senior high school students and college graduates, who want to get additional knowledge, and even professionals from the academe like me,” she added.

DAP Vice President and SPARTA Project Lead Alan S. Cajes concluded the event by encouraging the public to enroll in SPARTA’s programs while they are being offered for free.

Cajes also announced the upcoming Second Philippine Conference on Data Analytics happening this June 2023.

The enrollment is open until 30 April 2023 through the SPARTA Portal.

For more information, you may visit SPARTA’s Facebook page or send us an email: sparta@dap.edu.ph.