Fundação Dom Cabral presents the first laboratory in Brazil to adopt a journey of educational experience that will give executives and business leaders access to technological solutions and experimentation activities that can transform them into more active, imaginative and productive agents. TREE Lab, located on Campus Aloysio Faria, FDC headquarters in Minas Gerais, is an environment for creation and innovation designed in partnership with IBM and MRV.
The initiative arises from the business school's research on the future of education and the challenges of the corporate world. According to information obtained from different market segments, to deal with the volatile and challenging contemporary environment and build the competencies of the leaders of the future, educational solutions must be multiple, collaborative and interconnected. Furthermore, they need to develop intelligences that cultivate curiosity and innovation. “FDC believes that education is the only sustainable way to have more aware citizens, more responsible leaders and organizations, and a more prosperous business environment. Our laboratory will enable a learning journey to encourage the construction of skills and competences that will be able to transform the world”, explains FDC Executive President, Antonio Batista da Silva Junior.
The environment integrates the institution's innovation plans, enabling the connection between high technology and the 'artisanal' learning process, interconnecting analog and digital. Among the technologies available at TREE Lab is Watson, IBM's cognitive computing platform for business. Through a virtual assistant that will use voice interaction with natural human language, FDC participants will be able to ask questions and obtain information about the space activities and topics studied in their courses. Watson will be trained continuously and will bring constant technological updates of the topics covered by the participants in the classes.
"IBM understands that the leader of the future must be an agent of transformation and technology is the means that provides this innovation. In this partnership, we will present the most advanced methodologies and technologies to prepare these future leaders", explains Luís Liguori, Chief Technology Officer For this, the participants, in addition to interacting with the virtual assistant, will be able to access the IBM cloud services platform as well as IBM Client Centers and IBM ThinkLabs (solution centers by industry) located in several countries. see and try out solutions, as well as build your own prototypes.
“Supporting initiatives such as the Tree Lab is in line with the cause embraced by MRV to encourage the innovative ecosystem that exists in Minas Gerais. We want to drive a new business environment, with more disruptive solutions that benefit everyone”, says Rafael Menin, CEO of the company. The company, which is also a supporter of Órbi, a collaborative space for fostering entrepreneurship that will be launched in the capital of Minas Gerais, will also allow students and companies that pass through the TREE Lab to connect to the world of startups through an application.
Second level
In a second phase of the project, the space will allow experimentation with IoT (Internet of Things) technologies, in which the laboratory will identify the participants and their journeys, generating interactions and insights through the virtual assistant. This will be possible through the integration of the IBM Watson IoT platform with the physical identification systems that are developed by IBM's commercial partner, Sinergy.
The new laboratory will be the first step towards fully connected environments in which participants' experiences can be lived throughout the FDC Campus. The concept of gamification will also be launched to participants, who will receive “points” for their participation and interactions in space activities. This experience will be based on IBM's blockchain platform for its management.
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