10th EGTI

Yesterday I attended to the 10th EGTI, and, as promised, here's a quick review.

Before the event:

• thumbs down to CP with his Alpha train that broke in the middle of the trip to Coimbra
• thumbs down to the Tryp Hotel that starts breakfast time at 7:30 and at 8:00 has almost nothing left to eat

The event:

• thumbs up: Against the odds, all the panels were preety good
• thumbs down: the program was misleading. Their loss, because they had better panels and presentations than they were publicizing
• thumbs up: overall the best EGTI since the 7th
• thumbs down: overall the EGTI will less people attending that I can remember of

The panels:

• Information Systems (they weirdly called it "Software de apoio à Gestão")
• Emerging Technologies (they weirdly called it "Melting Pot Tecnológico")
• Teaching management

Information Systems:

• Auto Sueco - They presented their vision on how to create, maintain and evolve an Information System, taking their own case. Very good presentation
• Luís Simões Group - Their Information Systems Department history and steps was presented. The presentation was good, but their design decisions suck. They have nine people managing eight different systems! The only thing I think they are doing right is that fact that they only outsource work, not know-how. Anything that means "we don't know how to do it" will end being "we now know how to do it" at the end of the job. That also means that only outsource 10% of their work.
• Sumolis Group - I found this presentation good and funny. They also presented their own implementation of their Information System, showing how did they evolve to the actual solution, and which steps further they think they must have. Thumbs up to the way they stressed the importance of integration
• Information Builders - A good presentation about Enterprise Business Intelligence, how to gather it, how to deal with it, and (it had to be) they shown one of their products as being the best of breed on that area

Emerging Technologies:

• Critical Software - They talked about Ambient Networks, and, more than talking about their role in it (gladly), they talked about the concep of Ambient Networks and why do they think them as the future. I never expected to say this about a presentation made in name of Critical Software, but it was good. Left lot's of unanswered questions on my brain, but I'll take those as my own lack of knowledge about the theme, which, thanks to this presentation, I will investigate further.
• IPLNet - A presentation about the implementation of VoIP in IPL network, their steps, the state of it now, and the steps they'll make in the future. Quite interesting and very well done presentation. I'm not very found of the theme, but they have my thumbs up
• OutSystems - Well, this was the presentation about Web 2.0 and I must say I was quite skeptical about it. And I was wrong: with no technicity, the guy showed what's the Web 2.0 real paradigm, what's the challenges on it and what does it challange. He pointed useful stuff rarely talked very well, as, for instance, the fact that the value of an Web 2.0 Application isn't in the App itself but in it's users, which can be both a menace and an opportunity. I'll talk my own ideas on that when I have time to.

Teaching management: This panel was made as a presentation from various people in the teaching world (except the presence of one representative of Enabler that was giving the enterprise point of view, which was a good way of having both faces of the coin) about their visions about how to and the importance of teaching management in Engeneering courses. Then there was a debate, with them and us from the attendance. Almost all the themes ended as a reflection of the impact Bologne can/will have on it, since the education system in Portugal can't be much worse than it is nowadays, and because it's quite important for an Engeneer (even a computer-related engeneer) to have a management point-of-view of several things, and because there's a big lack of social and soft skills among students.

After the event: I'm tired, and I guess this thursday will be a hard day of work. But it was both fun and worthy.