2018. July 17.
Over 500 people from 45 countries registered for one of the most significant European meetings in production and operations management held at BME.
“We have completed a very successful event with an ideal venue, great organization, full house plenary sessions and presentations from many outstanding Hungarian and foreign experts,” said Tamás Koltai, the dean of BME’s Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences (GTK) to bme.hu assessing the 25th anniversary conference of EurOMA (European Operation Management Association) held in building Q at the university. He said that this three-day meeting offered multiple benefits for BME: “firstly, because the event included a number of renowned professors from Europe’s most excellent universities giving GTK access to the international professional scene in a field representing one of the faculty’s key professional profiles. Secondly, 15 teachers from the faculty were given the chance to present the results of their scientific work as part of the official programme and to receive feedback and recommendations at an international forum. Thirdly, all of GTK’s teachers/researchers could gain an insight into the current issues of the professional area of the conference, the results of world-renowned research institutes and could build international relationships.”
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It was the second time for Hungary – with Eötvös Lorand University in 2005 and the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 2018 – to host the most prestigious European professional event on the research of production and operations processes. The 25th EurOMA conference was organized by BME in cooperation with the Széchenyi István University in Győr and the Institute for Computer Science and Control of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA SZTAKI). The English language anniversary meeting received 562 registrations from 45 countries and 47 of the 437 presentations were delivered by Hungarian professors and researchers.
This year’s conference was named “To Serve, to Produce and to Servitize in the Era of Networks, Big Data and Analytics” and aimed at highlighting the significance of data collection, data analysis and modelling opportunities enabled by modern information systems for the operation of production, service and public administration systems. At the opening ceremony held in the assembly hall of building K at BME, János Józsa, BME’s rector welcomed the participants of the conference.
In the PhD seminars during the two-day pre-conference event, 39 foreign PhD students presented – simultaneously in three rooms – their research plans. The presentations were assessed in detail by prominent foreign professors including Cristopher Voss (Warwick Business School).
The programme was complemented by workshops: regional editors of recognized international academic journals advised young professionals in five different venues on the publication requirements of and the most important criteria for a successful acceptance by acclaimed international scientific journals in the field of production and service management. Plenary sessions presenting the cornerstone of the conference were held on each of the three days preceded and followed by presentations delivered in 20 parallel sessions.
The event was concluded with a visit to a car factory, a grandiose gala dinner and the professional awards ceremony. |
The majority of the presenters investigated the challenges and the opportunities of the era of networks and Big Data in service, production and public administration systems. Other widely discussed topics included corporate social responsibility, digital innovation and the management of educational and healthcare services where Tamás Koltai, for example, spoke about new ways to test the efficiency of musculoskeletal rehabilitation units in Hungarian hospitals.
The plenary sessions included presentations from renowned foreign professors in the field such as Wallace J. Hopp (Ross School of Business, University of Michigan) and Bart L. MacCarthy (Nottingham University Business School) and on the third day, László György, state secretary for economic planning and regulation representing László Palkovics, minister for innovation and technology, spoke to an audience of several hundred guests.
Special guests of the conference included prestigious experts such as Harry Boer (Aalborg University), Pär Ahlström (Stockholm School of Economics), Juliana Hsuan (Copenhagen Business School) and Cipriano Forza (Universitá de Padova).
Tamás Koltai proudly reported the event was supported by a multifunctional mobile application. It displayed all the events of the conference, the presenters’ profile with their photo, CV, presentation title and venue while also offering an interface for users to exchange messages and give feedback on presentations.
GTK’s dean thanked Noémi Girst, executive expert at the faculty’s Dean’s Office and the 36 volunteers including students, PhD students and young teachers. He stressed that “BME has once again proved that its professors/researchers are at the forefront of this professional field and that the faculty can be an excellent choice to host prestigious international meetings due to its professional recognition and infrastructural features and that the participant profile and the programme of the conference are symbols of GTK’s new ambition to more efficiently use the synergy of technical, economic and social fields in both education and research.”
– GI –
Photo: Tamás Thaler, János Philip