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The universities are currently running their Spring courses. For Claudio Christensen, IBM Academic Ambassador, this is yet another opportunity to connect to the academic world and to the students.

”It is really inspiring to work with the students. We don’t realize how much innovation we do in IBM before you start sharing this with the student. Especially our company values around diversity are always hugely embraced by the students while we almost take it for granted in IBM. It creates a strong sense of pride amongst the volunteer IBM’ers that participate in these engagements.”

Claudio Christensen, IBM Academic Ambassador

An active engagement with the universities

IBM Denmark’s Global University Program has an active and diverse engagement with the universities. We offer free software, courses, teacher training and guest lectures in both the HOT new tech-topics as well as in the good old mainframe. We collaborate in workshops and in case-competitions. Most recently we have opened a Skills Academy in Blockchain, Security, Cloud & Cognitive AI. 

Interested, check the IBM’s Academic Initiative https://www.research.ibm.com/university/

At the University of Copenhagen, Claudio is facilitating the case for the graduate Spring course, ‘Communication and Media’ in collaboration with the course’s lecturer, Marta Olsen.

Marta and Claudio have worked together and formed the case study. The students have the task of building and presenting a theoretical, digital communication strategy to increase awareness and downloads of one of IBM’s digital platform offerings within Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) in Denmark.

The case collaboration will run throughout spring, where Claudio and his team will meet the students again. They will participate in a Q&A session in April. Then will have a final presentation round and feedback will be provided in May.

In his daily work at IBM, Vice President Claudio Christensen, is leading IBM’s largest Digital Sales Centre in the world. He does that out of our IBM Dublin Campus in Ireland with 600 employees of multiple nationalities and languages.  In a virtual world, it is easy to engage with students in other countries, like Claudio does with students from the Copenhagen University class via Webex.

It is In our DNA – Give-back and responsibility in the markets we operate

At the IBM Dublin Campus, which also holds the GBS/GTS hub and SW development besides Digital Sales, there is an expectation among senior executives. They contribute to the universities with their knowledge and experience on a volunteer basis. It has become a part of the yearly goal planning and career conversation for each executive. The perception is that IBM has so much to share with the universities in terms of innovation, technologies and culture. Students are genuinely impressed once we bring this into any learning environment, making the IBM brand unforgettable.

Claudio has been actively engaged with Trinity University in Dublin over the last few years, as well as a given lectures on Digital Sales & Marketing at UCD, the leading Business school in Ireland. He sees plenty of value for the students and their casework but is also getting a lot in return. It is really inspiring to work with the students. We don’t realize how much innovation we do in IBM before you start sharing this with the student. Especially our company values around diversity are always hugely embraced by the students while we almost take it for granted in IBM. It creates a strong sense of pride amongst the volunteer IBM’ers that participate in these engagements.

IBM Guest lectures Catalogue

Like to know more about IBM University Programs, Contact Sanne Urbak Rasmussen, CSR and University Programs Manager, IBM Denmark