INCAE Business School celebrated the Incaista Month 2021 in style

August has become an important month for INCAE Business School and its graduates, because its foundation occurred on August 8, 1964, and because for 4 years the main activities, such as the INCAE Networking Night and the Incaist Annual Meeting, have been held in this month. East Month of the Incaist 2021 It also celebrated #Incaist Pride, the transformation that we all live during our INCAE experience and for a lifetime.

As in the previous year, the Month of the Inca was carried out virtually, and in the closing words of the Month, Rector Enrique Bolaños mentioned that we would never have imagined that virtuality would continue to be the norm, but the important thing is that it be however, we will continue looking for a way to feel united as an Inca community without borders. In total, the Month had more than 1,000 registered Incaists and more than 190 contributing their ticket to the Country Scholarship Fund.

A month full of transformative experiences

The festivities began on August 5 with the celebration of INCAE Networking Night, an experience that showed the enthusiasm, camaraderie and interest of the participants, who gathered together without borders from various countries and cities to share transformative experiences.

During the month various activities were carried out that made the #Incaist Pride feel like never before in those who participated. Additionally, there were publications on institutional social networks with videos, testimonies, anecdotes and photographs where they told "What was your transformative experience at INCAE?" In addition to ventures born as part of initiatives of the Incaísta community and stories about Incaístas Families.

Second Inca World Championship 2021

On Tuesday, August 24, as part of the Incaist Annual Meeting and with the leadership of Prof. Luis López and Processim Labs, the 2nd Incaist World Championship was launched. 10 teams with participants from 8 countries participated.

The table was as follows:

1st place - The last warriors (Ecuador / Guatemala / Panama)

2nd place - Istmus (Panama)

3rd place - Chifrijos with mote (Costa Rica / Ecuador)

4th place Honorable mention - Incaists without borders (Peru)

5th place Honorable mention - Dream Team SV (El Salvador)

The critical role of women

On Wednesday, August 25, as the second day of the Incaísta Annual Meeting, the Together Moving Women event was held, where the pre-launch of the Executive Women on the Move program was held, with the participation of Camelia Ilie-Cardoza, Dean of Executive Education and Strategic Innovation of INCAE and Chair of the Center for Collaborative and Women's Leadership (CLCM). This program includes self-knowledge tools, such as a personalized assessment, access to workshops and webinars, and support for the choice of the next step in the professional career of the women who participate.

Digital transformation is the name of the game

The closing of the Month of the Incaísta took place on August 26 with a space focused on “The Incaísta before the dark side of digital transformation”, where the welcome was given by Bernard Kilian, Dean of Masters, who urged the Incaísta community to move forward by putting innovation and creativity into practice, recognizing that, because of the pandemic, organizations were forced to accelerate their digital transformation.

A presentation by Camelia Ilie followed who talked about "The digital transformation of education: the INCAE case" putting on the table the importance of innovating with purpose, digital transformation as an auxiliary to the mission and the creation of value. "Given all the bad things that the pandemic has brought," he said, "the truth is that the digitization of business schools has accelerated, but it is very easy to lose focus."

Later, Professor Sergio Restrepo presented his presentation "The customer at the center: not everyone deserves love", where he proposed the new strategy to face the market: operational / technological capacity to understand the customer's need and respond quickly.

The presentation continued "Urgent: surrender power or disappear", an interesting proposal from Carla Fernández, also a professor at INCAE who, among other things, who pointed out that "COVID did more for digital transformation than many directors," and suggested that the agile methodology is key to changing the culture of the organization. to be innovative and collaborative ”.

The last participation, titled "Surviving without hierarchies" it was given by Professor Juan Carlos Barahona. He said, without preamble, that today all the rules have changed, and that it is time to recognize that we are facing a world of collaboration, not of hierarchies.

The panel was then presented "Leaders of transformation" in which three prominent Incaists shared their experiences. The panel was moderated by Alicia Avendaño, Director of Technologies of the Ministry of Finance of Costa Rica.

A unique closure

As a final act, the Rector ended the 2021 Incaist Annual Meeting through a message to the attendees. In it, Don Enrique Bolaños emphasized the importance of reinventing the future. The Rector asked the Incaists to be open to change. "We must prepare to acquire skills that allow us to master new technological platforms, interpret data and develop a holistic vision of the environment."

He also assured that at INCAE “we will continue to prepare ourselves to respond to the demands of tomorrow's world, anticipating the professional demands of a global economy, determining with our experts and the productive sectors the relevant competencies of the future, and creating academic programs and events with graduates that respond to the needs that will arise in the coming years ”.

After these words from the Rector, the closing concert sponsored by Global Bank was presented by the group Toque de Queda, who presented a playlist designed for the Incaísta community.