The specific learning objectives of the Innovation and Technology Management course are as follows:
- The ability to understand macro-economic scenarios and technological developments with a significant impact on the organisation and management of businesses. Today, information technologies and solutions such as the Internet of things, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and robotics make it possible to imagine new organisational solutions for company processes, as well as new products and business models characterised by the dematerialisation and digitalisation of client services. The programme offers the fundamental economic and technological understanding to frame and analyse business contexts in which companies operate and the potential applications of new technologies.
- Knowledge of legal matters. In the scenarios described above, graduates from the “Innovation and Technology Management” programme will need to be equipped with the legal knowledge required for addressing a series of significant implications from a legal perspective, such as privacy, licences as tools for protecting innovation, and intellectual property rights in general. For this reason, the programme includes courses designed to address the legal implications of technology adoption programmes, in terms of both civil and criminal law.
- The ability to analyse innovation projects from both the economic and financial perspectives. To this end, the programme provides students with knowledge of the performance-measurement and capital-budgeting tools required to evaluate projects on an economic and financial level.
- Knowledge of business models. Today, new technologies allow us to operate in markets in innovative ways. For this reason, the programme is designed to make students familiar with features of today’s most promising business models, and to provide them with the necessary tools, not only for adopting these models in medium-large businesses with pre-established structures, but also for launching new business initiatives in the form of start-ups.
- The ability to recognise the potential for innovation in products and processes, and to plan and carry out implementation projects, evaluating them on an ex-post basis. The programme provides students with an understanding of market and customer-needs analysis. Students will also learn about companies’ internal processes, as well as innovative organisational tools and solutions based on the use of new technologies.
- Relational skills. The programme is designed to provide students with the relevant relational skills for operating in business contexts that, by their nature, will be multidisciplinary and highly international. To encourage the development of these skills, the programme also offers courses in social and liberal arts disciplines, so that students can develop the capacity for empathy, and a flexible, open-minded way of thinking required to effectively operate in the contexts outlined above. The programme also involves the study of topics related to interculturality.
All courses will involve a final assessment. This may also be the case for other additional educational activities potentially subject to pass/fail assessment.
To achieve the master’s degree, students must acquire at least 120 ECTS.
Every exam will account for a certain number of credits, equal for all students, and a grade (out of 30), which will depend on the students’ level of knowledge gained through each course.