Professor of University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis Visits ASU

Professor Serge Miranda from the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, the research supervisor of the MBDS master program, has visited Astrakhan State University.

The range of events in which Prof. Serge Miranda took part included seminars and lectures for our students and faculty; those events took place thanks to an agreement between our universities as a part of the ERASMUS+ Program.

Prof. Serge Miranda supervises the MBDS master program, which relates to ICT and concerns development of new digital services, big data, mobile devices and applications, the Internet of Things (IoT), etc. ASU has been cooperating with the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis for a long time to implement this program; our students take part in MBDS practical training programs on a regular basis.

During his visit, Prof. Serge Miranda delivered a number of master classes for our students specializing in ICT. His master classes concerned big data, modern systems of database management, and analytical systems. Besides, he arranged a research and educational seminar related to the new digital economy and innovations; he shared his vision of “the digital future” of our civilization that recently entered a new era – the economy of data. The image he portrayed was indeed fantastic: according to statistics provided by the distinguished guest, a rapid growth of the number of digital devices is taking place on Earth now. Individual devices of mobile communication are constantly acquiring new functions. Mobile applications and devices related to the Internet of Things generate broad flows of information (Big Data); analysis of that information is a valuable source for decision-making. These new approaches shall change most industries irreversibly; social life will undergo similar changes as well.

The French guest’s visit also included presentation of projects that our students specializing in MBDS are currently performing. There was a vivid discussion after the presentation “Big Data Sante” by two students of ASU – Sergey Goryanin and Irina Grigoryeva. Sergey and Irina carried out this project during their training in Nice. Their development presents an analysis of influence that the atmosphere exerts upon the sickness rate of respiratory organs in Nice. To carry out that analysis, they applied Big Data approaches and technologies. After discussing their project, it was decided to conduct a similar research by applying the same technique in Astrakhan.

Cooperation between the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis and Astrakhan State University is going on; it was agreed to perform a number of new projects together.