Porto Business School will create an innovation ecosystem with five impact centers in the areas of sustainability, tourism, entrepreneurship, AI and African development.
José Esteves, dean of Porto
Business School, revealed that the school is going to launch a knowledge unit
comprising five impact centers, specialized in the key areas of sustainability,
tourism, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence (AI) and African
development.
The Innovation eXploration Hub
(Innovation X Hub - IXH), is made up of the Sustainable
Futures Center, Tourism Futures Center, Entrepreneurship Center, AI for
Business Center and Africa Futures Center.
Each center, says José Esteves,
will have a management and financing model close to companies, with the aim of
raising a total of one million euros a year.
Rita Marques, former Secretary of
State for Tourism and co-director of the Executive Master in Tourism Management
at Porto Business School, will lead the Tourism center. The other centers will
be led and strategically guided by professors from the business school and
prestigious names in their areas of expertise: Cândida Santos (People
Management and Organizational Culture), João Barros (Artificial Intelligence),
Ana Jogo Mendes, director of the innovation and entrepreneurship area at Porto
Business School, and André Rocha, executive director of the Casais Group and
professor at Porto Business School.
"The Innovation X Hub aims
to reinforce the integration of Porto Business School into business ecosystems,
strengthening our role of impact on the different stakeholders of the economy
and society. In this way, we provide a facilitating platform for leaders and
technicians to unite teachers, companies and students in favor of innovation,"
explains José Esteves.
José Esteves adds: "We recognize
that global progress does not come in isolation, and we understand the
complexities of teaching industries. By overcoming these barriers and promoting
collaboration, we aspire to a more sustainable and promising future."
The centers will produce
innovation-generating knowledge that responds to social, economic and
environmental needs in the five areas of expertise. Companies are the working
base and the privileged recipients of the knowledge coming out of the new
center. This includes the development and implementation of projects, applied
research, the design of cutting-edge educational programmes, the co-creation of
innovative solutions for organizations and individuals, advisory services,
support and expertise and the creation of sharing communities.
The hub is Porto Business
School's response to "the need to understand future global trends"
and "strengthen connections" between organizations, individuals,
entrepreneurs, industry and academia and respond to the challenges they face
today.
