29 October 2024
Bilbao Campus
The Association of Managers and Professionals of the Basque Country, ADYPE held a breakfast-colloquium on October 29 with the intervention of Juan José Etxeberria, rector of the University of Deusto, which focused on the new transformational leadership required by the social and business challenges posed by the current historical context, in permanent change and transformation.
Rector Etxeberria explained that universities are currently redefining their role and the value they contribute to society. Technological trends, the climate crisis, the aging of the population and geopolitical issues are major challenges that require “agents of transformation”. In this sense, for the University of Deusto, the keys to tackling the future include issues such as innovation, research, internationalization and sustainability, but without forgetting human values training, a subject that is present in all its degrees, with the aim of “training people with integrity and social commitment”. An example of this is the training offered in the field of the ethics of digitalization and artificial intelligence.
In the purely academic field, the University of Deusto is making a major effort to diversify and innovate in its teaching offer with new degrees -some entirely in English-, as is the case of the Faculty of Health Sciences, the new engineering degrees -which address areas such as robotics, data science or AI- or the Advantere School of Management, an international school of Management created in collaboration with the Pontifical University of Comillas and Georgetown University.
The Rector also highlighted the University's commitment to lifelong learning in response to the new needs of society. He praised the service that Deusto's executive education has been providing to companies, and pointed out the intention to expand the offer of continuing education in areas such as technology and health.
Other issues highlighted by the rector were research and knowledge transfer, focused on four key areas: digital transformation, ecological transition, health and welfare, and plural and inclusive democracies. Equally important is networking, which includes collaboration with other Jesuit university centers, as well as with companies and institutions through the signing of agreements for internships.
The conference was followed by a discussion between the rector and Mikel Etxebarria, coordinator of the Basque Group of the Club of Rome and member of the Board of Directors of ADYPE, in which some of the issues presented were discussed in greater depth.
