SPbPU NTI Center launched an EMBA program “Leaders of digital transformation”

The first module of the new EMBA program “Leaders of Digital Transformation” was taught on October 7-10, 2020 at the Higher School of Technological Entrepreneurship of the World-Class Research Center for Advanced Digital Technologies.

The first set of the program included 12 students from different cities of Russia; those are entrepreneurs, heads of enterprises and departments in the following areas: agriculture, logistics, construction, retail, 3D-video information display systems, maintenance of oilfield automation, outsourcing of non-core functions, technology events, culture. The partners of the program are the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), Munich University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and the SPbPU NTI Center.

The EMBA program “Leaders of Digital Transformation” is structured on a modular principle, with the total of 8 modules in the program with the account of the internship and preparation of the graduation project. Full-time training will take place four days every month during the period from October 2020 to April 2021. To move from module to module, trainees must perform design work and take recommended online courses. Each module contains a lecture part (guest speakers), master classes, trainings, a project part and run-time reflection.

An important element of the program in April - September 2021 will be an internship and work on an individual project: at the end of the training, each student must form a unique project of organization development, elaborated during the training.

In addition to traditional forms of lessons, the program provides for additional educational formats: foresight sessions, work with thinking technologies, business simulation. Between the modules, participants can attend webinars and receive online advice from teachers.

The module also included seminars on digital economy trends and digital consumer trail as a marketing tool, a foresight session on the “Rapid-Foresight: trends, threats, opportunities” and a business game “Key competencies of a manager in the digital economy.”

Classes of the next module will be held in mid-November 2020.

From the reviews of the audience:

Irina Ratina, head and owner of Retail TECH and Digital Academy, Moscow:

“I have been engaged in large communication projects in the field of digital transformation for several years; I worked for large international corporations and passed various professional development programs. For me, the content of this program and the fact that it is an MBA, i.e., a Master of Business Administration, was also important. The choice of Polytechnic University and Alexei Borovkov as a guru of digital transformation was not accidental: I have been in the business environment for 20 years, I have something to compare St. Petersburg Polytechnic University with. It is unique in that it can not only teach, but also implement real projects; it is a living test site for the implementation of breakthrough technologies, one of the world’s leading laboratories for digital twins. Since I see them as the basis for the digital economy, I wanted to learn from people who have real practical experience in developing and applying these technologies. I was not disappointed with the first module I listened to: the structure and navigation of the material are well organized, so that many questions can be closed before the end of the classes as part of independent work, as well as in communication with the training team. There is a lot of information, valuable and, what is essential, systematic: not only I learned a lot of new things, but also managed to organize what I already know. I was incredibly pleased with the focus of teachers on the practical usefulness of the module, so that we, the students, get the most from this program.”

Konstantin Priklonsky, Executive Director, SPOK Zarya, Irkutsk:

“For me, the EMBA program is the next stage after mastering the Polytechnic University programs “Factory Technologies of the Future” and the “Digital Industry Technologies” on the platform of “Open Education.” The topic of digital transformation for our company is highly relevant, because in agriculture as a whole these tools are very poorly developed. The urgent task is to build an effective management system based on control and the use of new technologies. Our final product is a personalized healthy food diet, and to create this new product for the market we need new tools. SPbPU is an undisputed leader in the NTI chain, so we turned to this place for the necessary competences. Four days of the first module of the program have already put a lot in place, starting with what actually a digital transformation is. Understanding that this is not an endless process, but on the contrary, a results-oriented activity already allows to stand on one’s own feet more firmly.

Prepared by the World-Class Research Center for Advanced Digital Technologies