Phileas Fogg attempted to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager.  The technological innovations of the 19th century had opened the possibility of rapid circumnavigation and this prospect captivated Verne and his readership. Once again, fascinated by technology, a group of 90 will attempt to go around the world in 10 days to observe and be inspired from the best in the world.

The class of IMD MBA 2018 will together travel to three locations; from Lausanne to Silicon Valley, Singapore and finally Bangalore; and discover few of the most innovative technical hubs around the world. These cities are considered the mecca of technology and rank very highly on the Digital Barometer. What makes these cities world class and breeding grounds for path breaking innovation is the overall infrastructure and skills in the immediate environment.

The global expedition will give us a unique perspective in the technologies and business models that are shaping the future of business, understand the key opportunities and challenges peculiar to innovators in each region. And hopefully, we will be able to develop a point of view on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and how each one of us could make an impact post MBA.

With a packed calendar from Day one, the trip will be filled with company visits and alumni events with occasional free evenings to explore the culture. The stay in Silicon Valley will be replete with the visits to the likes of Apple & Google. While, the trip to Singapore will give an insight into Corporate Innovations where we go to Collision 8, Unilever Foundry & AI Singapore to name a few. Bangalore will provide a glimpse to the organizations such as Wipro, pioneers of the Indian IT growth story.

In my opinion, it will be an opportunity for each one of us to develop a mindset to start asking the right inspiring questions.  And understand that next wave and what does it take to win in that next wave.

As the excitement builds up towards the departure date (17th June) of the Expedition, here’s what some of my class mates have to say about the expedition.

Our ombudswoman Candice says: “I want to see the differences in start-ups across regions”. In the same vein my French/Cameroon friend, Michel, is excited to discover India and compare the mindsets of Indian entrepreneurs with their European counterparts. Our Italian colleague Filippo quotes: “It will be interesting to see if we can measure up and have critical conversations with the entrepreneurs we meet and identify a red thread at the end of the trip”. Guilherme and Marco are looking forward to an immersion of cultures across continents, while, my Indian friend Shubham quips, “Never thought I would go around the world in such a short span of time unless I was a pilot or an astronaut”.

Till next time ?

-Neharika

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