The areas of cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse have grown in importance. And the prospects for the job are promising. What studies do you need to do to work in these fields?
The bitcoin crack last May has clearly frightened investors. However, the question of following a cryptofinance education seems less silly because these virtual currencies are now established. And the question also arose for NFTs, these certificates proving the value of a virtual benefit. In March 2021, a digital artwork was sold for $ 69.3 million at Christie’s. As for the metaverse, Facebook (Meta) announced in October 2021 that it wanted to hire 10,000 qualified profiles in Europe to build its metaverse.
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Study in engineering or business school
Is specific training needed? Typically, Grandes Ecoles offer training accessible at bac +3. This can be a special master’s or courses as part of a PGE (grande école program) oriented metaverse, cryptocurrency or NFT. “The design aspect, artificial intelligence, machine learning or even coding, is approached in the engineering school, where students are trained and prepared for the deployment of these new digital engineering technologies”, explained François Stéphan, director of ECE. Esilv also offers a major fintech. The university is no exception. Beginning in 2019, the Sorbonne offers a master’s degree in financial data technology.
For their part, business schools have been offering courses in digital finance, known as “fintech”, for many years, where the concepts of cryptocurrency, blockchain, big data, and their applications in the banking sector and stock market appointed. . “The objectives pursued are simple: to prepare our young people for this new commercial part of the world of work, to provide them with technical skills that will enable them to work with engineers, and of course to be motivated. they are in business “ details Nathalie Janson, cryptocurrency specialist and professor at Neoma.
Facebook created its school with Simplon
Recently, however, schools that are 100% dedicated to these sectors have emerged. We can mention for example the September 2022 opening of Metaverse College. Owned by the College of Paris, the establishment located in La Défense aims to train developers, project managers and meta designers of tomorrow. For its founder and director, Ridouan Abagri, the school is a “bet for the future, while France remains the cradle of the metaverse”. The school offers a curriculum starting in the 3rd year, and focuses on metaverse applications in today’s professional landscape: AI, the luxury market and digital marketing, datascience or even metheritage. As for Meta, the Facebook group announced in June the launch of a “metaverse academy” in France for an opening scheduled for the start of the 2022 school year with the Simplon code school. The school hopes to recruit 30% of the girls, with no diploma requirements.
In schools, entrepreneurs are also on the starting blocks. Clément Fagette, 22, is an engineering student at Ecole Mines-Nancy and co-founder with David Fereres of the Deep-Future collective. This project, whose activity consists of creating works of art methodically and then converting them into NFTs, thanks to the support and funding of the school. “Even if these themes can be subject to skepticism and mistrust, the school listens”by Clement.
Opportunities in all sectors
In terms of outlets, there is a lot to do. According to François Stephan, these new technologies are the “engineers of the 21st century”. Whether in finance, art or digital marketing, whether a startup or a large group, these skills are especially in demand. So we recruit developers, meta designers and data architects from all over. And that was just the beginning. “We are slowly integrating NFTs into everyday use,” said Clément Fagette. “Bitcoin is a real revolution in the global financial system,” added Nathalie Janson. Especially since we can find NFTs, metaverses and cryptocurrencies in more and more different fields: in real estate using “digital twins”, in administration through virtual identity documents and secured by blockchain, or even by supply of all kinds, where The authenticity and compliance with certain criteria of goods can be assessed in the form of NFT.