Digital Transformation is Focus of CIMS' April 12 Annual Meeting

RALEIGH, N.C. - March 26, 2018 - PRLog -- What does it take to digitize your business? And what solutions does doing so provide to your organization?

These are among topics that will be discussed at the April 12, 2018, annual public meeting of the Center for Innovation Management Studies (CIMS), a global, virtual research center located in NC State University's Poole College of Management.

Company executives from several different industries and researchers from NC State and CIMS' partner institutions will be on site reporting on their experiences with digital transformation. This meeting will be held at the Research Triangle Park (RTP) Headquarters, 12 Davis Drive in Durham, N.C.

Digital transformation refers to how a company has or is transforming its core business processes using digital technology in order to create value and gain differentiation in its market, explains Paul Mugge, CIMS director.

"The idea of digital transformation and what it takes for an organization to successfully execute such a change is a topic that has become pervasive in all discussions we have been having with our CIMS members and partners," he said.

"The presentations at this meeting will be relevant for individuals in organizations that are considering or in the process of digital transformation, or those who simply want to learn more about it," he said.

Participants may register here (https://cims.ncsu.edu/events/agenda/?eid=62) for one or more of the eight presentations that run in sequence starting at 8:30 a.m., as well as the welcoming reception, which features networking and a poster session at which NC State graduate students will display their work with CIMS research projects.

Registration information is available at the CIMS website. Cost varies based on the number of sessions and meals selected. There is no charge for university students.

Presentation Topics and Speakers

• "VF Corporation's Partnership with NC State University and CIMS" – Scott Deitz, vice president of public affairs, VF Corporation, NC State University's newest industry partner. Overview: Hear how their vision of a collaborative, strategic partnership will support student development at NC State and advance apparel and textiles innovation within VF.

• "Tracking Materials of Concern (MoC) with American Coatings Association" – Sarah Khan, Mike Kowolenko, Paul Mugge, Neil Parker, William Rand, R. Ravi, and Fred Renk, NC State College of Engineering and Poole College faculty and CIMS staff. Overview: Hear from both researchers and industry partners what the American Coatings Association (ACA) is doing to track MoC and the ability to create a similar platform at NC State.

• "Tales from the Road: This CIMS Stuff Really Works" – Larry Blue, chief operating officer, Bell and Howell, LLC. Overview: Hear first-hand how Bell and Howell is transforming its business utilizing digital transformation practices and techniques to enhance manufacturing and distribution applications.

• "Digital Transformation Patterns and Success Determinants: A Three-year Study of Digital Transformation in Organizations" – Gerhard Gudergan, executive director, Center Smart Services, RWTH Aachen Campus and director of research, FIR at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and CIMS colleague. Overview: Gudergan will provide an update on this study, including "Patterns of Digitization" and "Digital Transformation Ontology."

• "Digital Transformation: An Ecosystem Perspective" – Rahul Basole, associate professor, School of Interactive Computing; director, Institute for People & Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology; editor-in-chief, Journal of Enterprise Transformation; visiting scholar, Stanford University; fellow, Batten Institute, Darden School of Business. Overview: Basole will discuss the challenges in navigating transformations from an ecosystem perspective and present the value of adopting novel visual analytic and computational methods and tools to augment and accelerate decision makers' ability to discover, make sense, and analyze opportunities and strategies.

• "Fast Forward: Rethinking Enterprises, Ecosystems, and Economies with Blockchain" – Veena Pureswaran, global research leader, IBM Institute for Business Value. Overview: For centuries, global trade has been the single greatest creator of wealth, and market friction, the greatest obstacle to wealth. Blockchain technology has the potential to obviate intractable frictions across industries. Learn more about how the future of business networks will be transformed.

• "Cyber Data Security: Issues and Challenges to Consider When Protecting Your Data" – Mladen Vouk, distinguished professor, NC State College of Engineering, and associate vice chancellor for research development at NC State. Overview: In his presentation, Vouk will be "getting real about how digital data tends to be susceptible to cyberattacks," from equipment to personnel to planning.

• "Computational Research: Leveraging the Libraries, NC State's Competitive Advantage" – Darby Orcutt, assistant head of collections and research strategy, NC State University Libraries. Overview: Meet the NCSU Libraries, an international leader in the digital transformation of libraries.

Read more about CIMS here (https://cims.ncsu.edu/about-cims/)