Despite the whirlwind that the pandemic has been creating since the start of this year, Nile University (NU)’s efforts to rise up haven’t stopped for a bit. The 29th International Association for Management of Technology (IAMOT) event is one of NU’s annual main events that was supposed to be held physically in April 2020; however, due to the unfortunate outbreak, it was rescheduled to be held virtually between 13th – 17th September 2020. Prominent figures in many fields have joined the event and crucial topics were addressed, which mostly handled the adaptation of the world to the current situation.
IAMOT is the only international organization dedicated to advancing the state-of-the-art in MOT education and research. IAMOT is a non-governmental, non-profit organization incorporated in 1992 in the State of Florida, USA. Its purpose is to encourage high-quality research and education in the field of management of technology (MOT). It accomplishes this purpose through various activities, including sponsoring international conferences; publishing newsletters/periodicals, conference proceedings, a book series and a scholarly archival journal on MOT and Innovation (Technovation) and acts as an information exchange hub on teaching and research issues in MOT. The association has approximately 670 active members from 79 countries and its founder is Dr. Tarek Khalil, President of Nile University.
The event’s online sessions were live-streamed on NU’s Facebook page so people from around the world could witness the event and benefit from the sessions.
The first day of 29th International Conference started September 14th and included 5 prominent speakers tackling the topic of "Lessons from Global 2020 Crisis", who are: Prof. Tarek Khalil, who’s currently the President of Nile University and IAMOT Founder and Conference General Chair; Prof. Mohab Anis, a professor at the American University in Cairo; Founder and CEO of Innovety; and Principal at IXL Center North Africa and Levant; Prof. Dr. Anuja Agarwal, currently the Associate Dean – Technology Management, at Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering, NMIMS University and she’s a Board Member of International Association of Management of Technology (IAMOT); Prof. Harm-Jan Steenhuis is the Associate Dean at Hawaii Pacific University College of Business; and Prof. Gita Surie is Professor of Strategy and Innovation and the Director of the Elizabeth and Allen Don Center for Innovative Technologies and Decision Sciences at Adelphi University.
Day 2 started with a very interesting panel discussion on "Management of Technology in a Post-Digital World". The session featured 4 distinguished speakers: Prof. Tarek Khalil, Nile University President and IAMOT Founder and Conference General Chair; Prof. Gita Surie, Professor of Strategy and Innovation and the Director of the Elizabeth and Allen Don Center for Innovative Technologies and Decision Sciences at Adelphi University; Dr. David Bennett, who is a Professional Engineer and Business Academic at the University of Birmingham; and Dr. Roland Ortt who’s an Associate Professor of Management of Technology at TU Delft.
Day 3 was an Editor’s Panel that included 7 unique professors who are: James Fleck, Professor at the University of Edinburgh; Harm-Jan Steenhuis, an Associate Dean at Hawaii Pacific University College of Business; Tugrul Daim, Professor of Engineering and Technology Management, Editor in Chief IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management; Scott Cunningham, Professor of Urban Policy at University of Strathclyde; Prof. David Bailey, a British academic economist at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, a Vice-Chair of the Regional Studies Association, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Regional Studies; Geerten van de Kaa, an Associate Professor of Standardization and Business Strategy at Delft University of Technology; and Dr. Steven Walsh, a Full Professor of Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship at University of New Mexico.
Day 4 had a very special topic that addressed: "Digital World...Applications and Beyond", a panel discussion that was held by Prof. Wael Akl - Provost and acting Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Nile University - Eng. Basil Khalil - Vice-president of Operations for FedEx Express Latin America and Caribbean Division and Eng. Mohamed Azzam - Senior Digital Transformation Consultant.
There was also an important aspect to this event, which is the research activity that was done in parallel and was under the supervision of Dr. Mohamed Awny, Dean of MOT School at NU and Dr. Mohamed Ezzat, professor at MOT school. There was a call for papers announcement that opened the door for many researchers to submit their findings, and throughout the event, researchers presented their research to the Jury Panel. The winner of the Best Paper Award was “Emerging Digital Technologies for Industry 4.0: A Longitudinal Science Mapping Approach” by Maria Fatima Ludovico, Manuel Calçada de Sousa and José Eduardo Oliveira.
A lot of excitement is awaiting the next IAMOT that will be held physically in Egypt as was intended this year. It is planned to be in September from 19th – 23rd, 2021 and will make sure to gather people from different countries to share their knowledge and contribute to the advancement of MOT education and research.
To know more about IAMOT, visit http://www.iamot2020.com/