Students of the MSc Business Information Systems explored innovative technologies and disruptive ideas in Silicon Valley, California.
This year’s Silicon Valley Study Tour from 26 August – 7 September took the students of the MSc Business Information Systems to major players like Google, Microsoft and PayPal, as well as up-and-coming companies that are yet hardly known in Europe like Square, Voicebase and Edcast. During the trip, the students took a workshop on design thinking, got to know the passion and risks that come with entrepreneurship and experienced the latest trends in fields like artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning at Stanford University.
The study tour also included an amount of Swissness by visiting the US outpost of Swisscom as well as Swissnex San Francisco, where established companies, startups and education institutions pool their strengths. The feeling of the Silicon Valley spirit came up when visiting the garage where Hewlett Packard was founded in the 1930s – the birthplace of the technology cluster we today call Silicon Valley.
To make it a truly unforgettable experience, the study tour also included a cultural programme that took the participants to Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Sausalito and Alcatraz.
For a first-hand account of the MSc BIS Silicon Valley Study Tour, take look at the blog where the students themselves offer a detailed and personal account of their exploration of Silicon Valley.