Technology Enabled Business Innovation

Technology Enabled Business Innovation --- This course is designed to educate and train students on the role of technology as an enabler and catalyst for business innovations. Innovation is a process that leverages new and existing scientific knowledge applied in a user context to solve real world problems and deliver value. Technology on the other hand embodies tools, techniques, and processes, and when applied carefully to business innovation pursuit, can impact sustainable business outcome. Technology could also beat the core of innovation output itself. For example, to support a business innovation that separates defective oranges from good ones on a fast-moving conveyor belt, 4th industrial age technologies such as high-speed computer vision and imaging and machine learning techniques can be designed and orchestrated carefully to deliver a solution that a farmer can leverage for her product quality assurance. The course has five modules to progressively educate students on: Module 1-Innovation concepts, Module 2-How to approach technology enabled innovation through relevant analytical techniques and frameworks, Module 3-4th Industrial Age (4IA) digital technologies and innovation relevance, Module 4-Technology centric innovation simulation and economics, and Module 5-Value opportunities at the intersections of technology and lean/sustainability innovation pursuits. In addition to active class discussions and lectures, students will work on a comprehensive group project where technology enabled methods are applied to foster innovation on a chosen business problem and an individual innovation report for a chosen corporation where technology enabled innovations led to major transformation and sustainable business success.