Last Friday, on April 19th, we hosted the first Alumni Day at RTU Riga Business School. This half-day conference featured speakers and panelists from the Alumni Community, along with esteemed local and international keynote speakers. As we execute RTU RBS’s strategic initiatives, we organized a dynamic networking event focused on the themes of technology and leadership. Throughout the event, speakers, alumni, guests, and panel discussions delved into the topicalities of both topics.
The event was opened by remarks from Claudio Rivera, Director of RTU Riga Business School, and Viesturs Kuļikovskis, Co-chair of RTU RBS Advisory Board.
Reflecting on the event, Claudio Rivera says: ‘Reinvigorating and reconnecting with our Alumni community is among our top priorities. Our institution is committed to fostering a community of leaders in our region. While we provide educational programs, the role of our school does not end with graduation. Graduation is a beautiful and significant milestone, but it should not signify the end of the relationship of our students with their alma mater. An educational institution should be a home, not a hotel. There is not a checkout date once a student joins. The vast wealth of knowledge, contacts, expertise, and resources within our community is so profound that it would be a tremendous loss to only utilize these for a few years.’
Following opening remarks, Pēteris Zilgalvis, Judge at the General Court of the European Union, delved into the management of artificial intelligence. The discussion then shifted to the technology-themed panel discussion “Riding the Tech Wave: Business Impact and Resilience,” featuring panelists Artūrs Pielēns-Pelēns, Guna Soloveja, and Antra Zālīte, all Riga Business School Alumni and professionals representing well-known IT and technology companies in Latvia, such as Tet, Squalio, and Visma. The discussion was moderated by technology expert and lecturer at RTU Riga Business School, Jānis Paksis.
Afterward, Eric S. Pelletier explored “Organizational Pathology” in his keynote speech. This was followed by a panel discussion on “Shaping Leaders of Tomorrow: What is the New Equation?” featuring Katrīne Judovica, Viesturs Kuļikovskis, Greg Mathers, and Jeļena Gavrilova, moderated by Inese Eglīte. All panelists and the moderator are esteemed alumni of RTU Riga Business School’s Professional and Executive MBA programs. Some are also part of RTU RBS Faculty community.
Next, Raphael Weuts, Director of AI operations for multiple healthcare agencies under the Belgian government and a visiting professor of Artificial Intelligence at UC Leuven, Belgium, discussed “Creating Good AI Policy: for organizations, countries and yourself.” The conference part was closed by cybersecurity and digital policy expert, Advisor to the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Ieva Ilves, who shared insights into “Digital Risks and Opportunities in the Age of AI.”
Ilze Kauce, the President of RTU Riga Business School Alumni Association, shared her thoughts on the importance of the event and the future perspective:
“Alumni are an integral part of RBS brand and overall success, and this is something Riga Business School agrees with the Alumni Association, thus creating and launching Alumni day together is just a natural outcome of this mutual understanding. Therefore, together we aim to develop additional formats for the RBS business community to convene, exchange knowledge, and network with like-minded individuals. These initiatives will not only strengthen RBS but also reinforce its core values and empower its community!”
The event took place in the premises of SEB Global Shared Services Center in Riga, with warm thanks extended to our friends there, as well as to alumni in Swedbank for securing a mobile POS terminal to facilitate fundraising during the event. Thanks to the openness of the guests gathered and the great initiative moved by the Alumni Association, we were able to secure more than one thousand euros intended to support the activities and development of the Alumni community by the Alumni Association and to benefit bright and ambitious students in Bachelor programs through the RBS Excellence scholarship. The donation continues to Alumni Association account, find the details here: https://rbs.lv/alumni/support/
