Sneak Peek: Dartmouth's Digital Transformation Certificate

This course is an introduction to the Dartmouth Thayer School of Engineering Digital Transformation Certificate. In the certificate program, you’ll gain the knowledge and experience necessary to facilitate strategic and impactful change within your organization. Throughout the certificate program, you will learn how to develop digital transformation strategies, analyze data to support innovation and dive into product design and development. This sneak peek will provide a sample of each certificate course and give you an overview of the projects you will be completing in the certificate program.

In Course 1 of the certificate program, you’ll be introduced to the idea of digital transformation and the challenges that organizations face when implementing major transformation projects. You’ll learn how major technology initiatives can be broken down into more manageable chunks in a way that mirrors agile product development processes. You’ll examine the challenges of implementing business-to-consumer (B2C) tools and ideas in a business-to-business (B2B) setting and explore frameworks and approaches for how to overcome these challenges. Finally, you’ll discuss staffing gaps that emerge when organizations implement digital transformation initiatives and what new capabilities can be created. Throughout the course, principles will be brought to life through accessible examples and case studies. In Course 1, you will begin a project that is completed in Course 2. You will work in small teams to apply learnings from digital transformation and data analytics to a problem or application of particular interest. This project will be delivered as a consulting report for a client, even though that client is only hypothetical. We have provided most of the content from the first two course modules for you to sample. There are faculty-facilitated assignments in the Certificate program course that are not included here.

In Course 2 of the certificate program, you’ll learn concepts for measuring critical aspects of digital transformation throughout the lifecycle of projects. Different metrics will be discussed by project stage, and non-financial metrics will be introduced to help you build a full suite of tools to understand the status of your projects. You’ll engage in discussion around the language of things, the language of money, and the connections between the two, as you explore key differences between a discounted cash flow (DCF) view versus a real options view. You’ll then examine the crucial role of experimentation in providing rapid feedback to inform innovation initiatives. The special case of platforms, user bases, network effects, and virality will be covered. Finally, you’ll conclude with a discussion of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and their ties to digital transformation and innovation initiatives. To complete the mini-capstone for the first two certificate courses, you will work in small teams to apply learnings from digital transformation and data analytics to a problem or application of particular interest. This project will be delivered as a consulting report for a client, even if that client is only hypothetical. We have provided most of the content from the first two course modules for you to sample. There are faculty-facilitated assignments in the Certificate program course that are not included here.

In Course 3 of the certificate program, you’ll use predictive analytics tools and leverage historical data to identify the likelihood of future outcomes and evaluate what-if scenarios under various strategic and operational settings. You’ll also cover the use of prescriptive analytics and experience the power of optimization tools to streamline process design, planning, and operations. Upon completion of this course, you’ll be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of easy-to-use cloud-based analytics tools. The course will culminate with an individual capstone project. It will give you the chance to demonstrate the application of multiple tools from your newly-acquired cloud analytics toolbox to a real-world problem of your interest. You will work on real datasets to inform practical decision-making and provide managerial insights into key strategic and operational questions faced by businesses undergoing digital transformation. You will deliver the project as a technical report, including an executive summary with implementable recommendations to a real or hypothetical client. We have provided the first course section for you to sample.