The University of Minho launched, on October 24, the laboratory Next-Gen LAB@UMinho, in the C ampus of Azurém, Guimarães.The new platform will allow students in the areas of Information Systems and Technology to explore solutions across all market sectors, combining business applications, big data and the Internet of Things .The project results from a partnership between UMinho and the multinational SAP, the market leader in software and business applications.
The inauguration session was attended by the UMinho’s pro-rector for Institutional Assessment and Special Projects, Guilherme Pereira, the vice-president of the School of Engineering, Paulo Sampaio, the director of the Department of Information Systems (DSI), João Álvaro Carvalho, and the general director of SAP Portugal, Luís Urmal Carrasqueira.The session was followed by the unveiling of the allusive plate and the official inauguration of the new space, which will be coordinated by the researcher Rui Dinis Sousa.
Located on the building 11 first floor, of the Azurém Campus, this SAP Next-Gen LAB is associated with the department pedagogic activities laboratory at the School of Engineering .The structure aims to foster the interaction of academics, researchers, students, accelerators, start-ups and spin-offs of the academy’s ecosystem with SAP customers, partners and specialists, with a intention to develop innovative technologies and methodologies that are the framework for digital transformation in individuals, companies, markets, and society.
The valency also aims to facilitate the training of students and professionals, the contact of students and graduates of UMinho with companies that seek to recruit the next generation of leaders of digital transformation, the execution of projects involving technologies made available by SAP, as well as being a space of demonstration of technologies and applications directed to companies open to the exploration of disruptive innovations and that look for the benefits of the digital transformation, among other objectives.As part of the SAP Next-Gen network , this laboratory for educational purposes joins the 110 universities in 34 countries that are also part of the same initiative over the past year and a half.
“The main purpose of SAP Next-Gen Lab @ UMinho is to enable national companies, through our ecosystem, to exploit disruptive and purposeful innovations and businesses, with clear benefits for their competitiveness and differentiation, in order to put the country in the route of world innovation in terms of digital transformation”, emphasises the pro-Rector Guilherme Pereira.Luís Urmal Carrasqueira, director general of SAP Portugal, stated: “This structure plays a fundamental role in the Portuguese innovation ecosystem, preparing the future leaders of digital transformation and bringing students and researchers closer to companies.Its genesis will contribute to the creation of innovative business models and digital projects that will help meet the needs of society.”
