Researchers examine digital era challenges

A group of academics and researchers from IE have just taken part in a new edition of “IE Research Venture Day” held at IE’s Santa Cruz la Real campus in Segovia. Academics use this annual meetup to examine progress made in the field of research at IE, to take a look at latest research trends, and to discuss new initiatives and future plans. Each year the event is centered around a central theme or trend, and on this occasion it was Research in the Digital Era that was analyzed from multiple perspectives.

The 2017 IE Research Venture Day focused on the importance of embracing everything that 21st century technology has to offer researchers, and on how the impact of the digital era is helping transform research careers, particularly in terms of how research results are channeled back into society.

The digital era brings new challenges and opportunities for the scientific community. It offers new ways for researchers to interact, and new channels for sharing findings with each other and with society, where digital is king. Specifically, the new digital world has improved connections among researchers, and between researchers and society, thanks to new forms of interaction, dissemination, and access to information.

This year’s IE Research Venture Day highlighted aspects that include the importance of the researcher’s “digital identity” within new digital systems, used to identify authors and gauge the scientific impact and quality of their work, and the “digital profile” which has inevitably been created for each individual user as a result of the proliferation of social media. The scientific community is no exception, with discussion forums and the exchange of knowledge taking place not only on specialized social media sites focused on academic subjects, but also on more general conduits like Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. All this occurs against a backdrop comprised of the philosophy that the overriding mission of research is to have an impact and relevance not only within academic circles, but also for society in general. The new environment that digital transformation provides not only forces scientific interaction into new spheres, but also enables research projects to be more open and more accessible to society.

Hence participants in the IE Research Venture Day have tackled areas like Open Access and Open Data (the philosophy and practice that defends that certain data should be shared openly and freely). “One of the main objectives of Research Day 2017 is to provide a setting in which our researchers can reflect on all the possibilities that the digital world has to offer” said Marco Trombetta, Vice Dean for Research at IE University.

In addition to IE University’s longstanding specialization in the field of business sciences (in areas that include entrepreneurship, finance, big data, and technology, and human resources), in recent years its research activity has been focused on fields like law, architecture, communication, international relations, and psychology, with the aim of generating useful knowledge for the global challenges facing modern society. Participants in the opening session of the 2017 IE Research Venture Day included Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, Vice President of IE, Salvador Carmona, Rector of IE University, and Marco Trombetta, Vice Rector for Research.