From 9 to 10 September 2014, the German university Freie Universität Berlin was the venue of the 19 th SAP Academic Conference EMEA, which was hosted by the SAP University Alliances Program under the central theme “Cloud Meets Data-Driven Processes – New Horizons and Entrepreneurial Opportunities”.

After the welcoming by Professor Dr. Peter-André Alt, President of the Freie Universität Berlin, and Ann Rosenberg, Vice President of SAP University Alliances, leading experts in education and research entered into a lively discussion about the relevance and future perspectives of Big Data and related potential business opportunities.

A further focal point of the conference was future-oriented education comprising discussions on subjects such as the future of Enterprise Applications, learning with SAP University Alliances and new curriculum design approaches. This conference was organized not only to offer participants networking opportunities, information on new SAP solutions, workshops and train-the-trainer courses. It should rather provide a forum for interchanging experiences and ideas on current research projects as well as for expanding the network of experts in this field while laying the foundation for possible future collaborations. So Patrick Wirz, Strategic Project Manager of ESEFA at OVGU, took the opportunity to have an intensive and enriching conversation about the future partnership between ESEFA and the University of Botswana (UB) with Dr. Audrey N. Masizana, Head of Department of Computer Science at the UB.