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- Executive Education
New impetus for the event series TUM Connect
After a one-year break due to the pandemic, the event format TUM Connect is back with a new concept at the end of the year. To foster the direct exchange between the experts at TUM Campus Heilbronn and the companies from the Heilbronn-Franconia region, a special platform with Speaker Corners was created, which is otherwise known mainly from Hyde Park in London.
„Tradition and innovation – Contradiction or opportunity?“ (Prof. Dr. Heinz-Theo Wagner, Subject area Innovation)
„Disruptive innovations usually do not come from established market leaders or large companies, but from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which create new markets through technological and organizational changes. How can the willingness and ability of German SMEs to innovate be assessed?“ (Prof. Dr. Miriam Bird, Subject area Family Enterprises)
These are only two of the questions our TUM experts, together with the participants of various companies, intensively dealt with during the TUM Connect kick-off event on November 10, 2021 at the Bildungscampus in Heilbronn.
New event concept for direct exchange with companies in the region
After a longer pause due to the pandemic, the first event hosted by the TUM Campus Heilbronn and the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning focused on four subject areas: Innovation, Family Enterprises, Digital Transformation and Sustainability. Each topic was represented by an expert, who supported the discussions with their expertise. Prof. Dr. Heinz-Theo Wagner approached questions regarding Innovation with the participants like “How can we push innovations in established companies that extend the tried and tested as well as create something completely new?”.
Prof Dr. Miriam Bird from the Global Center for Family Enterprise explained the current challenges SMEs are facing. Together with the participants at the Digital Transformation station, Dr. Christoph Geier addressed the question of how Digital Transformation can be successfully shaped. Prof. Dr. Helmut Krcmar was not only the host, but the expert for Sustainability as well. He started the exchange by asking: “Continue to wait or examine where resource efficiency and climate change can meet – which steps toward sustainability to take today and which to plan?”.
Hyde Park “Speaker Corners” as a discussion platform
The four themed stations were set up as “Speakers’ Corner” in the style of the famous speeches in London’s Hyde Park, in order to provide the participants the necessary space to share their company-specific questions and views. In this special environment, it was always open to all participants to take the floor themselves and share their own needs and views with the people present and benefit from exciting discussions. In addition to the topic-related exchange, the event format also invited participants to seek personal exchange with other guests and to form valuable new connections. As the success of the event showed, there was a great need for both.
The foundation for the new format is laid
Various insights, impulses and specific problems resulted from the discussion rounds, the content of which forms the cornerstone and starting point for further events in the TUM Connect series. We are already looking forward to further exciting discussions in the following months and would like to thank all participants once again for their individual contributions.
