The advancement of technology has played a major role in all industries, as it can collect and analyze big data much more quickly and accurately than humans. Having a substantial amount of key data and using it to its full effect will help businesses achieve their goals. This trend poses a challenge to a new generation of accountants whose role and significance would diminish or disappear altogether due to future technological advancement. Responding to such disruption, Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Business Administration has revised its Bachelor of Accountancy to accommodate the digital trend to produce a ‘new breed of accountants’ by incorporating IT and data science to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to tackle business challenges.
The Department of Accountancy has revised the Bachelor of Accountancy to match the trend of data and technology by transforming it into an interdisciplinary programme that requires Accountancy major students to minor in either Information Technology or Data Science, whereby they are required to take five courses offered by the Faculty of Engineering or Science. Not only would these future accountants be skilful in their own field, but they would also be equipped with data literacy and thus able to handle challenges beyond basic accounting tasks and effectively make use of an enormous pool of data by gathering, extracting, and processing important data for the benefit of an organisation.
The first batch of students in this programme is expected to graduate in 2023, ready to become valuable accountants to their organisations. Currently, CMU is putting more effort into the development of specialised programmes to produce graduates whose qualifications match the country’s demands and changes.