Twenty-first century societies are highly connected, digitalized and networked. According to the International Data Corporation, by 2025 there will be 175 zetabytes of digital assets on the web. These include data, multimedia files, computing resources, software and more. There also social networks, many of which are purposely cultivated, which serve as a great source of collaboration and harnessing of collective wisdom. Meanwhile, Industry 4.0, or the Industrial Internet, provides an abundance of new opportunities for deploying intelligent applications in areas such as automation, monitoring, correction, decision, prediction and customization. Properly sourced data and harnessed knowledge are crucial for enabling business excellence. Competitive advantage is no longer achieved through an organization’s internal operational excellence and competition with rival firms, but through competency building, harnessing collective wisdom, and collaboration through networks. New value chains that lead to superior customer experience are often realized by applying newfound technological knowledge to fields such as processes management, machine learning, Big Data, automated decision-making and business model innovation.
Balancing theories and practice, and supplemented by in-depth case studies and practical illustrations, this program equips you with the skills and knowledge to strategize investments in digital transformations in an Industry 4.0 world. It covers everything from mining data, harnessing/sharing knowledge in organizations, leveraging the cloud for collaboration, competency building, innovation and fostering learning communities to identifying the skills today’s knowledge workers need. Case studies focus on healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, engineering, education, and the public sector. Learners may also join a vibrant online learning community made up of current and past learners, to co-learn together both during and after the program.
Based on two proven courses that have been on offer for the past three to five years, this program is designed to help managers and consultants from a non-technical background decide where to invest and design their digital transformation strategies in connected, networked societies, and develop smart products, services, systems in manufacturing, logistics, transportation, engineering, businesses, education and the home. Most learners who took the two MOOCs that form part of this program had backgrounds in product development, engineering, research, human resources, IT, logistics, and corporate planning.
