Cooperation will enable significant advances in the innovation ecosystem, both for academia and for the regional community

The University of Caxias do Sul recently entered into an important partnership with SAP, the world’s leading company in enterprise software applications (ERP). Headquartered in Germany and with offices in more than 150 countries, SAP has more than 100,000 employees, 4,000 in Brazil. UCS is now among the renowned international universities that are part of the SAP Next-Gen University Alliance , an innovative alliance model that connects higher education institutions to SAP’s international ecosystem.

SAP’s scope lies in solutions that span business management, automation, integration, analytics, data science and artificial intelligence, and application development technologies, spanning a variety of industries. Today, SAP is based on the Business Technology Platform (BTP), which underpins an innovative ecosystem of applications. The UCS/SAP partnership represents many benefits related to these segments, not only for academia, but for the regional community: students learn new technologies in practice and earn certifications of high relevance for companies in the region, with global opportunities for employment; companies develop co-innovation and digital transformation processes with new digital technologies with students and professors in Next-Gen Labs; startups have access to an international technology ecosystem and marketplace of solutions; professionals from the world of technology participate in events and classes at the University; alumni access career opportunities at a world-class digital technologies company.

“Our relationship with SAP has been going on for a long time, and now it has gained an even greater proportion, officialized, in the sense of developing and articulating joint and integrated solutions, from support for startup support programs to the formatting of embedded solutions and technologies with great breadth. SAP management software is used today by large corporations. We, as an educational institution, intend to open cooperation fronts not only with the companies installed in the Science, Technology and Innovation Park ( TecnoUCS ), partners of our Innovation Agency ( UCSiNOVA ), but also with the other sectors and areas of knowledge of the University”, observes the Dean of Innovation and Technological Development of UCS, Professor Neide Pessin.

For the vice-rector, Professor Asdrubal Falavigna, the international alliance that UCS is now part of contributes to the fulfillment of one of UCS’s purposes, which is to induce the growth and development of people and the region through knowledge. “The world is going through a scenario of technological and cultural changes and the adoption and eradication of different professions, which directly impact daily life and the dream of a better future. The most precise way to overcome these adversities is to condition our actions with the generation, transfer and dissemination of knowledge,” he says.

The dean of UCS, Professor Gelson Leonardo Rech, points out that the UCS/SAP partnership reinforces the institutional positioning of UCS as a regional articulator of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. “From the connection of academia with companies, government and the community, we move the development of research, projects, services and businesses at the University. This performance, encompassed by the UCSiNOVA Innovation Agency, includes dedication to the development of innovative businesses, incubation, partnership with companies, all housed in the structure of a Science, Technology and Innovation Park, TecnoUCS, which evolves by welcoming more and more companies and initiatives. These are synergistic dimensions that foster the generation of technology-based solutions and businesses, and the partnership with SAP consolidates this strategy”, emphasizes the rector.

Benefits of UCS/SAP Partnership for Academia and Community

– UCS faculty will have access to SAP Learning Hub Academic Edition, which is the central entry point for SAP University Alliances faculty to access learning materials provided by SAP University Alliances, openSAP, and SAP Learning Hub, student edition.
– UCS students in different courses and levels will be able to have special access to SAP Learning Hub and SAP Student Zone: Free Learning Journeys for Students, with availability of SAP content and technologies for practice and learning, participation in international classes with the right to SAP certification vouchers.
– In a second moment, students will have access to virtual factories and gamified business simulators.
– Professors will be able to participate in research and early access to advanced SAP technologies, updating themselves with best practices in the market and interacting with universities in the network.
– The participation of the academic and business community in SAP Labs events and International Missions for SAP Experience Centers is also contemplated.
– Participation of students from different levels in Ideations, Hackathons and Co-Innovation Processes for Digital Transformation in collaboration with SAP and companies in the region.
– Students and the community will be able to participate in events such as master classes with internationally renowned SAP experts, and join SAP Future Talents programs.
– Via TecnoUCS, companies in the Serra region that have SAP systems can now develop, together with SAP and UCS, co-innovation and digital transformation processes in activities supported by world-class methodologies and technologies.
– Startups that are related to UCSiNOVA can also participate, due to the partnership, in the SAP Startup Innovation Journey and access SAP’s International Marketplace, integrating their solution with various technologies and businesses.
– Students will be able to access career opportunities at a national and international level throughout the SAP ecosystem through the Talent Program, and CETEC students to the SAP Young Thinkers Program, which inserts young people into the world of Technology.

Service:For more information about the SAP Next-Gen University Alliance at UCS, contact the phone number (54) 3218.2011 or e-mail mpanizzo@ucs.br, with Professor Mateus Panizzon.