France's EMLYON Business School held a forum on Corporate Innovation in the Digital Transformation Era in Shanghai on March 3.
Principal of the school, Prof. Bernard Belletante, and Ren Youqun, Vice Chairman of the University Council and Vice President of East China Normal University (ECNU), made speeches at the opening ceremony of the event. The event was also graced with the presence of representatives from Accenture consulting，EMC Research and Development Group, Big Data Business Strategy Alliance, Bosch China, Vanke Asset Management, online education platform BB Tree, and the China Business Review magazine. The attendees exchanged views on a wide range of topics such as globalization, digitalization and cross-sectoral fusion.
Ren Youqun
Ren said it is a strategic move for ECNU and EMLYON Business School to help set up the Asia-Europe Business School (AEBS) in Shanghai as globalization presents a big challenge to the training of excellent business talents. AEBS aims to bring up professionals with global visions and multiple skills who meet the requirements of different countries and corporations. It also has a mission to promote communication of the oriental and Western cultures and business wisdom. Ren also shared his ideas with the participants about the prospects of universities in a digital world.
Bernard Belletante
Belletante devoted much of his speech to looking back at the history of cooperation between ECNU and EMLYON. AEBS is expected to be available for trial practices in September this year, according to Belletante.
He said nowadays education is facing a huge transition because under the globalization background, businessmen can go to any place they want and schools are subject to supervision from all around the world. An increasing number of schools are turning their eyes to emerging countries while the use of smart phones and laptops enables people from different countries to study in one class via online teaching. The management education must take into consideration the progress of science and be sustained, he said.
Prof. Wang Hua, head of the Asian school of EMLYON Business School, presided over the first part of the forum, at which digital transformation of international companies, auto industry, Internet prospects and big data were also discussed. It was agreed that the key to gain the winning advantage is to foresee the future consumption patterns.
The attendees exchanged views on a wide range of topics at the forum.
In the second part of the forum, Prof. He Jiaxun, Vice Director of the Faculty of Economics and Management of ECNU, exchanged views with the guests on the use of big data in traditional industries in China, and its pros and cons in the real world. They came to a conclusion that cross-boundary big data analysis is very important and digitalization is an impetus for traditional education mode.
The forum attracts lots of experts of related fields.
Located in Lyon, EMLYON Business School was founded in Lyon, France, in 1872 by the local business community, and is affiliated to the Lyon Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A top-notch business school in Europe, it is a frontrunner in entrepreneurial spirit and leadership development. It has triple accreditation: EQUIS by the EFMD, AMBA, and the AACSB. It is also one of top four business schools in France.
In 2015, EMLYON and ECNU signed an agreement to establish the Asia-Europe Business School to offer management studies and business manager training courses as well as provide a platform for cooperation between Chinese and European enterprises.
