"Center for Digital Business" launched

WW: What was the need that gave rise to the "Center for Digital Business"?
Manuel P. Nappo: Digital transformation is one of today's most important topics, which also affects many Swiss companies. We have found that the Swiss economy has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to digitization - and at a wide variety of levels. In the SME sector, the medium-sized ones even more than the small ones. Many of these companies have had to overcome other challenges in recent years. There is a lack of application-oriented knowledge in the digital sector. At the flight level of top companies, dealing with digital challenges is also top. But the marketing manager of a medium-sized company would have to have something tangible. That's why we came up with the idea of creating a center out of our Master's in Digital Business, which has now been running successfully for a year, that really takes care of the Swiss economy and wants to accompany these companies on the digital path.

What topics are covered?
The Center for Digital Business prioritizes digital transformation topics: digital leadership, mobile strategy, finance 2.0, HR 2.0, mobile-first culture, digital change management, digital stakeholders, social media, multichannel experience, data and analytics.

How does that sound in new German?
Courses, in-house training, coaching and workshops are realized for SMEs, associations and administrations to facilitate their entry into the digital world. The center is also responsible for the part-time master's program in digital business at the HWZ. This is made up of five certificate courses (CAS), three of which can be selected and which lead to a master's degree in conjunction with major practical work.

How big is the center?
The center will have three main pillars: organizing the master's program, offering consulting services for external parties and, thirdly, providing free know-how in the form of white papers, checklists, events, etc. At the moment, we are three people. In addition to my management, two employees. We want to be start-up style. We are also still looking for more partners or private sponsors. In this sense, we are very much oriented towards the model of American universities, where integration with partners from the business world is completely commonplace.

What can you offer these sponsors?
There are to be four main sponsors. These will benefit from the first mover advantage in the digital sector and from the clear commitment to Swiss companies. In addition, they have a clear image transfer as a partner of a top university of applied sciences and certainly also a media outcome through our studies and rankings. Specifically, they also receive the organization of a Tailor Made Study Tour to Silicon Valley, secured places in our study programs and a contingent of consulting hours for themselves or their own clients. The package is very attractive and is tailored to the needs of the partners.

Are there already first customers?
Yes. Some of the existing ones we already accompany like Universal Music, Cargologic, Das Zelt or the canton of Aargau. We are constantly getting new inquiries. Apparently, the topic is hot and our knowledge is in demand.

What could be a specific request?
A concrete problem is quite banal: How do I make a social media strategy? How can I meet the mobile challenge? How do I deal with the issue of multichannel? Data analysis is very topical; everyone is talking about Big Data. An SME has data about its customers, which is collected in various forms. What can I glean from it in a standardized way? In all cases, it should be about working in a solution-oriented way. That is also the strength of our university of applied sciences.

Interview: Andreas Panzeri