The International MBA class had the pleasure of attending the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and 4 Years from Now (4YFN) in Barcelona this past February. These significant exhibits played an immense role in their Global Trends in Tech Innovation course taught by Professor and Entrepreneur Bart Huisken. The course focuses on exploring the future of technology and its impact on well-established companies as well as startups.
An Insight into MWC & 4YFN
MWC is an annual trade show with exhibitors from the mobile communications industry and over 100,000 attendees from all around the world. This trade show partners with 4YFN to connect digital startup innovators with investors and venture capitalists. The exhibitors and speakers range from big-name companies like Huawei and NTT Data to startups including Cocoon Creations and Bike-On Technologies.
As part of the Global Trends in Tech Innovation course, students worked with their final project teams to conduct research on the impact of future technologies within the industry. At MWC and 4YFN, students interviewed and networked with speakers, attendees, and exhibitors to learn more about the future of technology and startups.
At the event, students tried out some of the coolest, latest technologies such as playing with a robot dog named Tecno, having a conversation with AI human Ameca, using AI glasses, and experiencing extended reality (ER) through the five senses. In addition, there were many sessions where speakers from large and small companies shared their experience and knowledge on hot-tech topics today. On top of these industry talks were sessions exploring interested investors and startup experiences for people who want to create their own startup.
Student Takeaways
Alberto Valdovinos, an MBA student from Mexico, noted that “AI is everywhere. You have to get used to using it because it’s the new Internet phenomenon – you have to jump on board, or you’ll be left behind. At MWC, AI proved to be more in the early stages of being figured out by companies. So, we’re now starting to see the successful and unsuccessful attempts of using it.”
Nowadays, technology is omnipresent, constantly changing and advancing, making it hard to keep up with. Attending MWC and 4YFN was an extraordinary opportunity for MBA participants to better understand the impact of technology on businesses and how to use this technology as a competitive tool in a company or startup.
The MBA class concluded their MWC and 4YFN experience by presenting their findings on interviews with attendees from the trade show. MBA student, Jessica Che, from the United States, expressed how insightful the trade show was for her team’s final project to open an electric vehicle repair workshop. “We spoke with a few people with extensive experience in the automotive industry who emphasized the growing relevance of AI in vehicles as well as repairs. One key insight we got was to consider EV repairs in terms of the whole ecosystem rather than solely the repairs, which helped put our project into more perspective.”
For their final project, MBA student, Camilo Videla from Chile and his team, are focusing on the usage of satellite imagery with drones to reduce damage in crops and increase production. During the four days at MWC, he learned the ways “drones and satellite imagery have the potential to revolutionize industries such as agriculture, wine production, and help prevent the impact of climate change, such as floods or fires.”
Attending MWC and 4YFN for Global Tech Trends was a phenomenal and unique opportunity for the International MBA class. They not only learned more about technology today, but also put their research to the test while making connections with experts in the field. Camilo remarks,
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Author, Jessica Che, International MBA participant
About Jessica
Jessica graduated from the University of Maryland: Baltimore County where she received a B.S. in Financial Economics, B.A. in Global Studies, and a Minor in French. During her time there, Jessica spent part of her schooling studying abroad in Lisbon. Jessica’s professional experience has been in project and pricing analytics in support of federal clients. She is currently in EADA Business School’s International MBA program, specializing in Sustainability & Business Impact.