This summer, at the end of August, information about the digital transformation changing business and society will be broadcast from Kaunas to the whole world. In the four-day conference Leading Digital Transformation in Business and Society, scientists, practitioners, and business representatives will discuss how digital transformation has affected areas such as sustainability, circular economy, health, production, sustainable consumption, ecosystems, the financial sector, etc.
The conference is organized by Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), which is the world’s largest professional organization founded in 1884 and dedicated to promoting the creation and development of technology for the benefit of humankind. This organization unites more than 396,000 members from 160 countries. The organizers of the conference belong to TEMS community (Technology & Entrepreneurship Management Society) which covers management and practice in the area of engineering and technology implementation.
With this conference, Kaunas and Lithuania hope to not only present themselves internationally but also to make new contacts and develop collaborative activities.
According to the organizers, the focus on digitization at the conference was chosen as one of the hottest and currently most relevant topics. Digital technologies are being rapidly implemented in all business areas to create more sustainable business processes, better understand customer needs and develop innovation. However, the implementation of digital technology alone is not enough to improve customer experience or the effectiveness of business processes. A big part of successful transformation depends on an organization’s digital strategy, so inviting science and business leaders to sit down at one table aims at contributing to every organization’s digital strategy’s development and improvement.
Also symbolic is the fact that the conference, which unites various countries, is organized and will be broadcast from Kaunas – a city that specializes in health, information, and communication technologies and new production processes. Therefore, this topic is very relevant to both the needs and competencies of the growing Kaunas innovation ecosystem.
Specific field of topics
When defining the thematic field of the conference, specific areas were selected: sustainability, circular economy, health, production, sustainable consumption, ecosystems, financial sector. According to the organizers, currently, these are the most pressing challenges for science and business. As Richard Adams, who will be chairing the Sustainability session at the conference, says, “The development and application of digital technologies are constantly changing business processes. Recently, the focus has been shifting to how entrepreneurs mobilize and exploit the benefits of digital technologies to achieve sustainability goals.” Gerda Žigienė, Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business at KTU, who will chair the Digital Transformation in the Financial Sector session, agrees with him, “Although Fintech has many opportunities to reform and democratize finances, it also faces various obstacles that can affect society both positively and negatively and even includes issues of transparency and ethics. Thus, the speed of technological development is extremely rapid, all these and other processes must be properly managed, without violating the principles of sustainability, because there is always a person behind every technology.”
Meanwhile, a KTU researcher working in the field of digitization, Dr. Lina Dagilienė observes, “The Paris Agreement on climate change forces organizations to look for ways to become self-sufficient and environmentally friendly without losing profits. But the reality is such that the usual practice determined by the ambitions of economic growth, consumption patterns, financial systems, and other aspects of the wider political economy remains unsustainable. It is, therefore, necessary to identify how digitization can contribute to a positive transformation of the circular economy, products, technologies, business processes, and business models.”
Science and business forums for better synergy
Science representatives will present the latest research results at the Science Forum, and science and business cooperation activities are planned on the day of the Business Forum. Representatives of world-renowned science and business will deliver presentations. Prof. David Teece from Haas Business School (University of California, Berkeley, USA) will read a presentation “How to Capture Value from Digital Transformation.”
Michael Wade, Head of the Swiss International Center for Digital Business Transformation, will present insights on how to lead the transformation process “Orchestrating Transformation: How to Deliver Winning Performance with a Connected Approach to Change.” Annabelle Gawer, Professor at the University of Surrey and Head of Surrey Center of Digital Economy will deliver a presentation on the topic of “Digital Ecosystems and Platform Economy.”
Professor Max von Zedtwitz from the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark will invite you to listen to a presentation on “Digital Product Innovation.”
Meanwhile, the aim of the Business Forum is to encourage the active involvement of business representatives in solving the challenges of digital transformation. Well-known international and Lithuanian companies like Teltonika, Siemens Healthineers (SHS), BIOK Lab, KUKA, or Continental will share their unique experiences. In addition, conference participants will be invited to contribute interactively to the solution of business digitization challenges offered by H&M, SHS, Continental, BIOK Lab, and Hitachi Bank.
The startups will also share their success stories at the event, and in doing so will have the opportunity to present themselves to the international investor commission.
World-renowned Professor Henry Chesbrough of Haas Business School at the University of California, Berkeley, will invite everyone to listen to the presentation titled “Getting Business Results from Open Innovation.” Sangeet Paul Choudary, founder of Platformation Labs in Singapore, will talk about the importance of platforms in business and Ulli Waltinger, the founder of Siemens AI Lab in Germany, will share knowledge about digital technologies in the field of health. The representatives of innovative organizations that are successfully implementing digital transformation – Marc Schlichtner and Frank Kanopka, digital transformation experts from German Siemens Healthineers, Teltonika Telemedic director Martynas Ošauskas, IEEE TEMS Conference Vice President, and innovation director of Volvo Group India Private Limited, Sudeendra T. Koushik, and others – will discuss and provide insights during the planned panel discussions: “How to Enhance Knowledge Absorption Capacity”, “Responsible Digital Transformation for Society”, and “Capturing Value From Business Digital Transformation.”
More about the event: https://2021-icte.ieee-tems.org/
Kaunas IN business department information.
Photo by KTU.
