Deakin's Genie: a virtual digital assistant out of the bottle

Deakin Chief Digital Officer William Confalonieri said Deakin's expectations for students downloading the app were ambitious and that his team was delighted with the uptake, with more than 25,000 students downloading the virtual digital assistant to date.

"The success of the app lies in its unique value to enrich the experience of Deakin's students," Mr Confalonieri said.

"Genie means that every student at Deakin has support at hand around the clock. It's a digital assistant to help with managing schedules, assignments and all general aspects of university life.

"It's also very helpful during times of uncertainty before starting study, such as the period between when students receive an offer and begin their course, especially for international students before arriving in Australia to study and Cloud Campus students that may be working during business hours.

"We know that during this period many students have a multitude of questions and can feel anxious about beginning life at university. Genie can answer these queries immediately, at any time of the day."

During peak times, such as the beginning of the Deakin trimester one student year, Mr Confalonieri said that students initiated up to 12,000 conversations a day. The influx of inquiries was very similar to the patterns experienced by the Deakin University Student Association phone helpline.

"The top 10 conversations were oriented around first-year student queries so things like timetables, assignments and unit resources are the most common topics for conversation," Mr Confalonieri said.

Mr Confalonieri emphasised that Genie has the capacity to deal with a diverse range of enquiries to enhance the student experience.

"The conversation process with Genie is a personal experience, Genie knows who the student is and adjusts its answers accordingly. It"s far more personal than other digital FAQ based assistant products on the market," he said.

"Genie can answer questions such as where's the Prayer room, where’s the campus doctor, or where can I find the bicycle storage?”

At the heart of the app, Mr Confalonieri emphasises, is the ability to easily adjust and apply the platform to other organisations.

"We're very excited about the commercial possibilities of Genie. Our first commercial partner, Allianz Australia, is currently piloting the app to help injured workers navigate the workers compensation process. I'm confident that this is merely the tip of Genie's potential in the digital concierge space," Mr Confalonieri said.

"Deakin's striving to be a digital disruptor and be at the forefront globally when it comes to digital innovation and Genie is part of this.

"It's vital that as a higher education institution we lead by example and Genie provides a means for Deakin to lead in student digital education and to maintain leadership, differentiation and provide a superior student experience that can be adapted for use in the broader world."

The top 10 questions that students asked of Genie between January and April 2019 were:

1. Show my assignments
2. Show my timetable
3. Find unit resources
4. Latest news in my units
5. What are the trimester dates
6. What's my DeakinCard balance?
7. Campus map or directions
8. What do I have on next?
9. Show me jobs
10. What do I have on loan?