The Dom Cabral Foundation (FDC) has created a laboratory known as the Tree Lab, to provide executives and business leaders with access to technological solutions and experimentation activities involving the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and blockchain.
The Tree Lab, located at FDC's Aloysio Faria campus in Minas Gerais, is a breeding and innovation environment designed in partnership with IBM and Synergy, a company that develops RFID and IoT solutions. Synergy will donate devices to the lab to demonstrate IoT-focused applications.
The laboratory is intended for business-school research into the future of education and the challenges of the corporate world. According to information obtained in various market segments, in order to deal with the current volatile and challenging environment and build the skills of future leaders, educational solutions must be collaborative and interconnected. In addition, they need to develop intelligence that can cultivate curiosity and innovation.
"FDC believes that education is the only sustainable way out for more conscientious citizens, more responsible leaders and organizations, and a more prosperous business environment," says Antonio Batista da Silva Jr., FDC's executive president. "Our laboratory will enable a learning journey to foster the construction of the skills and competencies that can transform the world."
The allotted space will provide experience with IoT technologies. The laboratory will identify participants and their journeys, generating interactions and insights through a virtual assistant. This will be possible through the integration of IBM's Watson IoT platform with Synergy systems.
According to Maurício Strasburg, Synergy's CEO, the initiative seeks to prepare executives for the concepts of Industry 4.0 and Hospital 4.0, for example, which represent a conceptual evolution in the use of advanced technologies in business. "We are partners in this initiative," he explains, "and will donate equipment from Impinj so the Dom Cabral Foundation can offer education on what RFID and the IoT are."
The new lab will be the first step for fully connected environments in which participants can undergo experiences throughout the FDC campus. The concept of gamification will be introduced to participants, who will receive "points" for taking part and interacting in space activities. This experience will be based on IBM's blockchain platform.
Among the technologies available at the Tree Lab is Watson, IBM's cognitive computing platform for business. Via a virtual assistant that will use voice interaction with natural human language, FDC's participants will be able to ask questions and then study information about specific activities and topics during their courses.
Watson will be continuously trained, and will bring constant technological updates to the topics covered by participants in their classes. "IBM understands that the leader of the future must be a transformation agent, and that technology is the driving force behind this innovation," says Luigi Liguori, IBM Brazil's chief technology officer. "In this partnership, we will present the most advanced methodologies and technologies to prepare these future leaders."
