An innovator’s guide to the IT University of Copenhagen

I’ve been invited to hold a speech for the IT University of Copenhagen, stakeholders and, of course, our awesome students. Logistics made it possible for only a few students to be present in the Auditorium and I wanted to share my thoughts with ALL students (or at least the ones willing to click a link and read through — thank you btw ;)

Hey there, student of ITU!

Time flies, doesn’t it! Just last year I was one of the new students, mesmerized by all the pretty lights and shiny surfaces in what was about to become a new adventure in the IT University of Copenhagen. And here I am! My name is Vlad, born and raised in Romania and I’m a second year Global Business Informatics student.

I’ve wondered what can I say in 10 minutes that can be most impactful and helpful. That was the wrong question to ask. How can I cover in 10 minutes what usually teachers cover in 2 hour long lectures, and doing a great job at it by the way!

I realised the only thing I can do with my time is to plant a small seed now and nurture it to grow.

I’m not that much into retrospectives. I don’t know that many old war stories I can tell new students about ITU. I am however very very impressed with what the university managed to achieve in only 16 years. Probably everyone is and probably everyone is curious to see what’s coming up.But I guess that’s history and our focus should be set on the future.

Process vs Goal

I started ITU last year hungry for more than just our classes. I wanted to meet everyone, get involved and join the people who make great things happen. We’re foolish in that way, thinking we can do all of these things in a couple of intro-days or even in the first semester?

Time went by so fast in the first semester.

You can’t really meet everyone and experience everything in a couple of days. You need to see this as a process and not a goal. We’re often consumed by the validation we get when we finish something, and this sometimes overshadows the experiences we gained in the process.

This process is actually the reason why we’re here for the entire time of our study.

To Interact. To Create. To Support. On an ongoing basis. Think of it as a loop

We’re interacting with much more than our screens, devices or our friends. We interact with ideas and we shape them with our own understanding. Our experience helps us understand the world around us and create what’s missing.

We are makers, makers of thought. makers of things and even makers of people. How? you might ask? Makers of people By Supporting each other.

Continuous improvement

I’ve learned many things last year, besides our course learning goals or on which side of the building I have classes. everybody has done a couple of laps around each floor I bet

What I’ve learned is not as important as the fact that I’m improving myself. And I’ve seen my classmates do so as well. And as long as we can see improvements we know we’re on the right track.

When we reach our destination is not important, but the experience we gathered on the way there is important.

In my spare time I get to work with some really passionate students in an organisation called ITU Innovators. People often ask me how could they become an “Innovator” and the truth is that they already are innovators, some just might not know or might not see themselves as such, yet. But they definitely are. This is why you’re a part of ITU to begin with.

It is all about the future.

You joined this university with this perspective in mind, and this was your goal, to build yourself up for the future.

Technology is often something taken for granted, black-boxed and very much expected in today’s world.

We are living in interesting times with an increasing pace of information and technology being developed at an increasing rate. Moore’s law still holds true.

We now see 3d printing, machine learning, cryptocurrencies, virtual reality and drones reaching consumer markets. This isn’t the Jetsons family, this is now available to buy on Amazon. Watch out for artificial intelligence, another game changer coming soon.

We’re forward thinking individuals right? We’re an entire school of the bravest, most daring people in each of our study lines. We are problem solvers living in a world in desperate need of our skills. A world that we get to impact, hopefully in a good manner. Technology enables us, it doesn’t create problems unless we use it to create problems. Technology is a tool and it’s all about how you use it. There’s an fascinating relationship between a builder and his tools, the hammer can definitely be your friend and your foe. Our fingers learn that the hard way.

Try and see this building and the people working inside it as an enabler too. The IT University of Copenhagen is the perfect catalyst of passion, knowledge and experience.

Having the right resources isn’t everything, using them properly and taking advantage of the right opportunities is everything.

Consider yourself a startup, and the university the bootstrapping years of your life. Free courses, free roof, free wifi, free advice, free desks, free labs, free workshops, and always always a steady stream of smart people passing you by. Become a unicorn.

When realising how important people are and your interaction with them you also realise that you are a resource for others. You can help someone with the missing links and thus create value together. When you start seeing yourself as an asset creating value you can start working on becoming more valuable.

Outside partners can already see this value, and they’re eager to work with us and invest time and energy and why not even make it rain sometimes if there’s conditions for a perfect storm.

Use that in your advantage. It’s up to you now.

Key take-aways:

In a world full of problems educating the problem-solvers is crucial

The teachers can show you a world full of opportunities that need exploring

Technology is political and biased but it depends on us where the bias lies

The most valuable resources are people and you’re surrounded by them. (goldmine)

Planning doesn’t make perfect. Execution, prototyping and iteration makes perfect.

Also, done is better than perfect.

We have pretty much everything we need, so this doesn’t need to be hard or difficult. Do what you love, create value and you won’t work a day in your life. And also remember no matter what you’re up to, make sure you have fun doing it.

I hope I managed to plant a seed, let’s grow it together.

Now what? Get in touch, ask me anything, make me be a part of your work!