Within the framework of the agreement between Banco de Chile, Universidad Católica de Chile, and Tsinghua University, the twelfth version of the CMIX Conducting Business in China program has just concluded.

On this occasion, 17 MBA students and two professors from the UC along with two executives from Banco de Chile took part in a two-week study tour in China. The trip, which included academic, business, and cultural elements, began with classes taught at the Tsinghua University in Beijing, which is considered one of the best academic institutions in Asia.

Also, the students visited Schwarzman College – a new residential college in the same university, cradle of future global leaders – where the Chileans met with Latin American counterparts, and attended a conference by Richard Brodhead and Xue Lan, former President of Duke University and Dean of Schwarzman College, respectively.

As usual, the agenda also included high-level company and site visits in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen to the Banco de Chile Beijing office, Bank of China and Citi, Foxconn, Huawei, Tencent, BYD, and more.

On March 27, 2019, a reunion of the CMIX-Chile program in Beijing was held for a group of Tsinghua MBA alumni Luksic Scholars who participated in the Chile MBA study tour sponsored by Banco de Chile in previous years.

The meeting, which took place in the representative office of Banco de Chile in Beijing and hosted by José Miguel Besnier, Beijing Chief Representative of the bank, marked an important step in linking the different generations of scholars.

The students, treated with empanadas and Chilean wines, showed their commitment to continue opening networks, both in their country of origin, and with Chile.

Without a doubt, it was a very positive meeting that promises to be repeated in future years to continue consolidating the network of Luksic Scholars and their connections around the world.

The rapid development of technology in general, the advances of artificial intelligence and the growing availability of data of any kind offer tremendous opportunities for companies and public organizations, but also challenges for the training of its professionals.

Finding wisdom in the data is essential, with data analytics becoming the perfect approach that allows combining organizational strategies with science of data.

In this context, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) joined forces with the Universidad de Chile to offer a new program in data analytics at the highest level to train professionals from Chile and the region.

As of May 2019, the Data Analytics Certificate (Diploma in Data Analytics) program will be taught in Santiago by the Universidad de Chile in conjunction with MIT professors, and will conclude with two weeks of courses in Cambridge, MA on campus at MIT Sloan.

The MIT Sloan-U de Chile joint certificate — the first program that MIT has offered with Latin American University — aims to prepare high-level professionals from the private and public sectors to make strategic decisions based on data (“data-driven decision making”).

For more information, click here, or apply here.

With focus on sustainability, Office poised to boost long-term research and projects

With the support of MIT alumni and prominent business leaders in South America, such as the Luksic and Solari families and Gustavo Pierini, the MIT Sloan Latin America Office has created a new endowment. The endowment, for the Santiago-headquartered MSLAO, puts the Office on a solid financial footing and assures its sustainability in perpetuity.

Through their vision and dedication, the Luksic and Solari families have long backed education, innovation and sustainability in Chile and Latin America.

“The establishment of an endowed fund for the MIT Sloan Latin America Office is a wonderful milestone, which we hope will continue to allow this unique Office to conduct important work in the region, for Chile, and for MIT,” the Luksic family says. “We have proudly supported this Office since its inception, and with this endowment MIT has shown Chile and Latin America that it plans to build a lasting legacy between Cambridge and our region.”

MIT Sloan Dean David Schmittlein commented, “The MSLAO was our first global brick and mortar office outside of the United States. I am pleased to see that the School’s efforts to expand its reach have been fruitful for both Latin America and the Institute. The endowment is a demonstration of our commitment to our alumni and the region.”

With its continuity guaranteed, MSLAO can now channel all its energies into looking towards the future and generating maximum impact throughout the region.

In this vein, the Office will fund more long-term research and projects throughout Latin America, centered on its core strategic areas of Energy, Water, and Sustainability; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Growth and Productivity.

MSLAO also looks forward to stepping up visits by MIT faculty members to the region. Last year, MIT academic staff came to Latin America for research and educational purposes on a near-monthly basis. With access to additional resources, the Office is well-placed to increase this already impressive rate. Renowned past visitors include Roberto Rigobon, Professor of Applied Economics and the Faculty Director for the MSLAO; Andrew McAfee, Co-Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; Fiona Murray, Co-Director of MIT’s Innovation Initiative; Robert Pindyck, Professor of Economics and Finance; and Rosalind Picard, Founder of the Affective Computing Research Group at MIT Media Lab.

Entrenching the Office has long been a cherished goal of MIT alumni in Latin America, whose unflagging advocacy was instrumental to the establishment of the endowment. The institutional support of Dean David Schmittlein, President Rafael Reif, Associate Provost Richard Lester and Executive Vice President and Treasurer Israel Ruiz, too, was indispensable.

“The MSLAO endowment is the result and testament to the initiatives and meaningful impact, which MIT has focused in Latin America,” says David V. Capodilupo, Assistant Dean of MIT Sloan Global Programs. “The endowment provides the sustainability necessary as we continue to engage with long- term research projects in the region.”

In creating a programming office endowment, the university is blazing a trail for US universities in Latin America. This innovative new model will provide a template for other North American institutions of higher education seeking to bolster their regional presence.

Source: http://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/mit-sloan-latin-america-office-establishes-new-endowment