The Creation of Our CIDM Course – Behind the Scenes Q&A with Xavier Martin

We would love to know more about you. Could you tell us more about your career history and where you are today?

I am not someone who started out with a grand plan for their career, but I have always been intrigued by Psychology, Economics and, more specifically, International Development and Relations. I started working at a bank in my hometown of Barcelona as soon as I graduated from high school, eventually I wound up working with the bank’s foundation on microfinance projects, and later as a Development Finance Consultant where things eventually unfolded from there.

I have been lucky to work in many countries around the world and along the way I have learned a lot from many people — of course highlighting my Digital Frontiers family for having taught me the most.

What is Digital Money and why should students consider taking this course?

Digital money refers to a means of payment that only exists in electronic form however, like all money, digital money is trust! Digital money, or as it is more widely known as digital finance, is critical to advancing the financial inclusion agenda. Digital money allows people from across the world to make digital payments as opposed to where they previously experience physical barriers.

We have seen a steady increase in the use of digital money around the world. For finance professionals, it is necessary to understand how these systems work and how to keep them functional and trustworthy. The Certificate in Digital Money (CIDM) course is essential to those who wish to accelerate their carriers in digital financial services.

What role did you play in the creation of the CIDM Course?

Everything we do at Digital Frontiers is very collaborative, so I would say that I was one of many on a team, which I like! Ignacio Mas, one of the Digital Frontiers founders, was the academic director at that time and he provided the main vision of the programme and most of the course content together with David Porteous. I was heavily involved in the development of the assignments and incorporating elements to improve the overall student experience and journey.

Could you elaborate on the process, thoughts and research that went into creating this course?

Given the amount of information out there today there are almost limitless possibilities for content that you could introduce in any programme. Our job is to boil it down to the essential knowledge and competencies that professionals need and value; to create a solid foundation from which our graduates will continue to learn and grow as the field developes. This means talking to people and organisations working at the forefront and, of course, reading and learning ourselves.

What were some of the highlights from creating this course?

It is always a pleasure to work as part of a team. I am always particularly interested in how our colleagues in learning design interpret content and develope this content in a way that keeps the student interests in mind as well as how they learn, where they learn and what their individual learning journey looks like.

If you could add one more module to the course, what would the contents be?

We have such a diverse and engaged group of students in our courses. If I could add one more module, I would probably like to ask our students and alumni to develope and teach a module related to local and global context field experience.

 

By Xavier Martin 

DFI Divisional Director