On October 25 ZSEM introduced a Chatbot at the conference “The Role of New Technology in Education – Smarty chatbot” and presented the virtual assistant Smarty, which is designed to improve the availability of information at the faculty.
In cooperation with Careesmom.co and IBM, ZSEM developed the virtual communications assistant “Smarty” which was released in September this year. Smarty makes use of the IBM Watson Assistant, a cloud service which helps understand human speech and utilizes machine learning to communicate with people by simulating conversations.
Since September, Smarty is helping ZSEM students get answers to their questions 24/7, regardless of their location. Smarty responds to a wide range of general queries concerning undergraduate programs, the entrance exam, mentoring program, enrollment documentation, and other. ZSEM students were actively involved in the construction of “Smarty” by coming up with a set of most commonly asked questions, for which they usually consult the student office staff.
The IBM Cloud offers 170+ services (AI, IoT, blockchain, Watson APIs, etc.) for programmers to develop, implement, and manage.
“Careesma is a young start-up company and this was our first experience using the IBM Watson API on the IBM Cloud. The service provides a powerful tool for developers who can build innovative business models to provide unique customer service. Using IBM technology to create this service for students was one of the most exciting experiences in my career, “said Lana Balić Matijašević, Director at Careesma.co, and alumni of ZSEM.
“We at ZSEM are dedicated to providing a unique teaching experience to our students in order to fully equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully perform on their jobs. We realized that we need to simplify the basic services we provide to our students so that they can devote more time to creating innovations, their professional development and collaborating with their colleagues, “says Ðuro Njavro, PhD, Dean of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management. “Through introducing Smarty we achieved this goal. In addition, our staff in the student office now has more time to focus on providing high-quality consultations to students.”
“Digitization affects all aspects of our lives, including the way we study. The fast development of technology is changing the education sector by creating new learning models and new ways of thinking that are tailored to today’s society, “said Damir Zec, Business Director, IBM Croatia. “Similarly, educational institutions must change the way they do business and apply new technologies such as AI and cloud computing to prepare students with the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the needs of the labor market. We are exceptionally proud that the Zagreb School of Economics and Management has chosen IBM Cloud to build a virtual assistant that help students and enables them to spend more time creating added value.”
