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CASE

ITU Explores Digitalisation in Silicon Valley

Innovation Centre Denmark in Silicon Valley hosted a 6-day academic masterclass – The ITU Explorer Program – in collaboration with the IT University of Copenhagen (ITU). On this trip, 35 post-graduate managers and directors, studying Master in IT Management at ITU, got first hand-experience of the pace of digitalisation in Silicon Valley.
What
Digitalization Research & Education
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The Explorer study tour is a golden opportunity to come to Silicon Valley, get inspiration and learn from the world's leading companies within the digitalisation. There is a lot of input, a lot of learning, and when we come back to Denmark, we will see how and what we can translate into change in our own organisations.

Peter Kiel Product Owner, Novo Nordisk

Practical and Global Experience

The ITU was established in 1999 and is Denmark’s leading university in IT research and education. They deliver teaching and research within computer science, business IT and digital design, and work closely with industry and the public sector and is characterised by a strong entrepreneurial spirit among students as well as researchers.

During the MSc in IT Management, the students learn about digitalisation theories, models and concepts during their two-year programme. While this is the natural foundation for the entire programme, it is also important to put this knowledge into practice and relate everyday digitalisation challenges. Therefore, the university wishes to provide the students with practical real life experience and knowledge. Since Silicon Valley is a world-leading hub for digitalisation, and with years of experience in arranging masterclasses for corporates and universities, ICDK in Silicon Valley was an ideal partner for ITU.
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“The collaboration with ICDK gives our Master's students the international perspective to orient themselves in a rapidly changing world. The students are introduced to the latest digital technologies and business models at the forefront of international development. Moreover, they become aware of the variety and the different ways in which digitalization can be transformative for citizens, consumers, organizations, companies and society.”
Lars Rune Christensen Associate Professor and Head of Technologies in Practice, ITU

Masterclass On Digitalisation

ICDK Silicon Valley is a Danish outpost in the heart of the most entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem in the world. With a strong presence in this innovation hotspot for many years, the centre has a solid network across the entire ecosystem. To equip the students from ITU with the right tools to master and conquer the fast pace of digitalisation, ICDK Silicon Valley set up a tailor-made, week-long masterclass. Here, the students experienced first-hand how innovation and technology surrounding machine learning, AI, blockchain, 5G and augmented reality are not limited to the tech industry, but will be an integrated part of any future business.

Each day was focused around a specific exploration theme of digitalisation, e.g., innovation, applied tech, data driven business models and ESG. For that purpose, ICDK Silicon Valley had set up 3-4 relevant key note speakers or corporate visits that each contributed with their unique perspective on the challenges of digitalisation within their specific area of expertise.

For example, the masterclass included visits to the iconic Silicon Valley research centre PARC. Here, Jan Vandenbrande, Head of Research, gave the students insights into the operation and focus of one the world’s leading research labs within digitalisation. The week also included a visit to the world’s leading CRM-platform, Salesforce, where they got insights into a unique digital company culture of 80,000 people, all working to transform the CRM approach as we know it today. Finally, the students also met speakers from Berkeley and digitalisation frontrunners, such as Unity and NVIDIA, altogether providing them with a unique perspective from the tech hub Silicon Valley.


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“It has been a very well-prepared program. It has been fascinating that ICDK has collaborated with ITU. The cooperation that has been built up between these two Danish institutions, to sort of trying to build a bridge between not only what we do in terms of general IT in Denmark, but also what they are trying to teach us at ITU, is terrific. I am sure that this bridge that has been built between ICDK and ITU will only get stronger the more people come over here and experience the digital ecosystem of Silicon Valley.”
Anders Jerlow IT Project Manager, HK

“The Birthplace of the Computer”

With more than a decade’s presence in Silicon Valley, ICDK provided unique access and insights for ITU to the “birthplace of the computer.” This was the second time ICDK in Silicon Valley welcomed students from ITU, and with another masterclass already in the planning for 2023, it is safe to say that the trip was a success and makes ground for a successful partnership. ICDK Silicon Valley is, of course, ready to help other Danish universities or organisations as well, combining real world, global experience with theory to create a second-to-none learning experience.

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