Time to Recap: Data with Purpose Summit

Is Data the new “sun of the 21st Century?” — by Catarina Mena

Alumni NOVA IMS
3 min readMay 28, 2024

Have you heard about the latest NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS) event? The last 21st May was all about immersing ourselves in the fascinating world of data at the Data With Purpose Summit. Miguel Neto, NOVA IMS Dean, ignited some deep reflection when labeling data as the sun of the 21st century. Quite an intriguing analogy, wouldn’t you agree?

Miguel Castro Neto, NOVA IMS Dean, and Francisco Pedro Balsemão, Impresa CEO.

The event was a hotspot for anyone curious about how data can transform the world and gathered more than thirty speakers sharing their insights. And guess what? Our Alumni President, Ivo Bernardo, was among them!

Some of our ALUMNI members, including Catarina Candeias and Ricardo Isaías Serafim, were also present. They both found the event well-organized and enriching. Ricardo, in particular, resonated with the Dean’s comparison of data to the sun, highlighting its renewable and unlimited potential.

In fact, Henrique Gouveia e Melo articulated this vision in one of his speeches. As Chief of the Navy Staff, he labelled data as a vehicle to achieve a “digital navy” capable of extensive maritime operations, with AI as a sailor for routine tasks and humans dedicated to more critical roles. He goes even further by saying that “what matters is not to have all the data, but to know which data exists and which can we use”. Ricardo also found this idea quite engaging and added that “data can be infinite, but the way we use it determines our impact in the digital world. The real question is, how can data trigger other significant changes in our society?”.

Henrique Gouveia e Melo, Chief of the Navy Staff.

Indeed, “Time to Reconnect” was the central theme of the conference — harnessing data for impactful change and more interconnected communities — a valid reason to introduce the project “We Connect” to the audience. Designed by students, aware of the importance of real-life connections, this app helps users disconnect from digital devices and reconnect with each other, in real-world activities.

NOVA IMS group of students that developed the app “We connect”.

So, let’s not forget about the (real) networking! The event offered plenty of opportunities for meaningful connections with esteemed companies, such as Microsoft, Jerónimo Martins, or LinkedIn. All of them recognized the importance of this valuable asset, common to all NOVA IMS students and for which the market is currently hungry for — Data with purpose.

Curious to know more about the event speakers? Explore the lineup, browse through the snapshots from the day, of check the full coverage by Expresso (how cool, right?):

Entrance of the conference building.

Stay tuned for updates on future events by hitting the follow button:

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By Catarina Mena
Ambassador & Blog Coordinator | Member NOVA IMS ALUMNI

Catarina Mena, Blog Coordinator

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Alumni NOVA IMS

Nova IMS ALUMNI is a non-profit organization with the goal of creating a community of former students of NOVA IMS (https://www.novaims.unl.pt/)