The Advisory Council of the School of Engineering of the University of Minho (EEUM) is the consultative body to advise the School’s government bodies regarding strategic definition subjects. Composed of nine personalities of recognised merit in the fields of their activity, these members have the mission to advise the School on issues related to pedagogical, scientific and interaction with society activities. In this edition, we spoke with Jorge Batista, CEO of PRIMAVERA Business Software Solutions.
How important is it to be a member of the EEUM’s Advisory Council?
I believe that it is an opportunity to contribute to the destinies of this School [of Engineering] with which I have a strong connection, sharing ideas and convictions that reflect my experiences as a student, professional, entrepreneur, businessman and even as employer. It is an honour at the same time, which I take on with a great sense of responsibility, to be able to be close to the themes that will dictate the future of the EEUM, contributing with an external, complementary and non-binding vision, always with the aim of adding value to the decisions of the School’s management.
Overall, which are the contributions of an external member to this Advisory Council?
The external members of the Advisory Council, in an attempt to provide advices on the topics that are selected for discussion, seek to make the proposals richer, more precise to the desired result, and more measurable.
What is the balance of the evolution of the EEUM in recent years, under the vision of the current Advisory Council?
The meetings of the Advisory Council are developed around themes of the strategic plan of the School. From what I observe through the results of the execution of this plan, I think the EEUM is on the right direction. Not being exhaustive, I would highlight two themes:
- The communication strategy of the differentiating factors of the School seeks to give great visibility of the initiatives of greater impact to the society in general, and to the students in particular. We hope that this will result in greater attractiveness in student recruitment, greater prestige for the School, attracting new partners and relevant projects in research and knowledge transfer;
- The growing number of collaborative initiatives with industry, with a relevant contribution to the generation of innovative products in these same industries. The creation of the DONE Lab and the Bosch Academy are good examples to be followed.
The Board of Engineers recently distinguished PRIMAVERA as one of the most emblematic examples of Software Engineering in Portugal, in the context of the celebrations of its 80 years. What is the importance of this recognition for the company and for the industrial sector to which it belongs? Does the University of Minho play a role in this distinction?
The recognition of the Board of Engineers is mainly the recognition of our fantastic team of Engineers, most of them graduated from the University of Minho. We take the disciplines of Engineering and Architecture of Information Systems seriously at PRIMAVERA. We build our own technology platforms, based naturally on market standards, and at the top of those platforms we model and develop the various ERP modules. The accession to the best software development practices in the various specialties is the key to dealing with the need to rigorously manage a universe of 40 different products, installed in thousands of costumers and supported by many hundreds of technicians and consultants in different geographies.
This distinction is also the recognition of the importance of informatics for innovation and unprecedented transformation that is happening in all industries and sectors. The University of Minho is also one of the recipients of this recognition, through its pioneering bet in this area of knowledge. Therefore, we never fail to anchor the course and affirmation of PRIMAVERA in the proximity that we have with the academy and in the quality of the professionals who are trained there.
From the perspective of the company you represent as a member of the Advisory Council, which are the advantages in welcoming EEUMs’ students?
The role of adviser and the fact that PRIMAVERA welcomes students in their internship programmes are not a cross-cutting issue. The first will be exhausted, in a natural way, since the term of office is well defined. In the other hand, our availability to host interships, doctoral programmes, collaborations in technology transfer centres’ projects, initiatives for retraining unemployed or other forms of collaboration with the EEUM and the University of Minho, have been developed since PRIMAVERA’s foundation. We intend to maintain this cooperation for many years, since we recognise it as very valuable.
In this context, are we talking about a specific collaboration of the students with PRIMAVERA, or an integration in the company’s staff?
There is always place to integrate talent within PRIMAVERA, whether in the Engineering areas or in other areas such as marketing, communication or customer support.
