Supply Chain Frontiers issue #40
The MIT NextLab Program has partnered with the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá (Javeriana) to run a dedicated course on the University’s campus in Bogotá, Colombia, during the spring semester of 2011.
The NextLab@Javeriana course started in January 2011, and combines content from Javeriana’s Mobile Computing class and the NextLab class at MIT. As part of the course, a group of 22 engineering and computer science students from Javeriana formed five project teams, which are developing prototype mobile technology solutions that address real-world issues.
The research is based on “Enterprise On-Demand” principles, the next phase in NextLab’s focus to build mobile technology applications for businesses in emerging markets. “We have learned a great deal from our initial work in the field and have fine-tuned the ideas and technologies that we are working on,” says Jhonatan Rotberg, founder and Director of the MIT NextLab Program. For example, although the supply chain is still at the core of NextLab’s research, Enterprise On-Demand encompasses other corporate disciplines such as sales and payments. “We are extending our work in on-demand crowdsourcing to as many aspects of the enterprise as we can,” says Rotberg.
The new class at Javeriana also will benefit corporate sponsors. Under the leadership of Dr. Edgar Blanco, NextLab forged a collaborative relationship with industry partners in the region through the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation (CLI). CLI is funded by LOGyCA, a leader in logistics products and services in Colombia. Several of LOGyCA’s corporate partners, such as Alpina, Inversiones Mundial, and Unilever, are actively involved in the design of mobile technologies being carried out by the NextLab@Javeriana Program.
For more information on the NextLab@Javeriana course, contact Jhonatan Rotberg at: jrotberg@mit.edu.