14 Mar 2025
On 13 March, 2025, the final round and awards ceremony of the "XJTLU 2025 Information Management and Information System (IMIS) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition", hosted by the Department of Intelligent Operations and Marketing under the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), concluded successfully. The event commenced with an opening speech by Professor Jorg Bley, Dean of IBSS, followed by an introduction of the judging panel by Professor Xiaobo Xu, Head of the Department of Intelligent Operations and Marketing, and was hosted by Dr Kaiyu Xu. Centred on the theme "Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project Design for Cross-Border E-Commerce Practice," the competition attracted 73 teams and over 370 students, with 10 teams advancing to the finals, showcasing IBSS students’ exceptional capabilities in business practice and academic research.
Professor Jorg Bley, Dean of IBSS, kicked off the event with a keynote speech titled "The Past, Present, and Future of E-Commerce." As a scholar who has witnessed the evolution of e-commerce from "phone orders and check payments" to "facial recognition instant payments," Professor Bley illustrated technological leaps through three landmark cases:
- 1980s TV Shopping: Orders placed via phone, payments by check, and delivery by mail, with transactions taking up to a month. In contrast, today’s "10-minute coffee delivery" in China highlights how technology has reshaped consumer ecosystems.
- Cross-Border Payment Revolution: Traditional transfers from Germany to the U.S. took five days, while transfers from Suzhou to New York now arrive within hours. He emphasized that "China’s breakthroughs in digital payment infrastructure have positioned it as a global leader."
- Drone Delivery Practices: The UAE’s use of drones for parcel delivery and exploration of manned transport, combined with facial recognition technology, suggests a future of error-free transactions dominated by robotics.
Professor Bley remarked, "The persistent issue in e-commerce is human-induced errors in the supply chain. While physical try-ons remain irreplaceable in traditional shopping, the next step may involve virtual try-ons with material-sensing technologies." He encouraged participants, "This competition’s purpose is to seek multidimensional solutions to these challenges."
Professor Xiaobo Xu then introduced the three judges: Professor Lixian Qian, Associate Dean for Research at IBSS; Dr Yue Xu, Associate Professor; and Dr Chenwei Li, Assistant Professor. The panel evaluated all projects based on four criteria: innovation, depth of data analysis, presentation logic, and team collaboration.
After intense competition, the "5Ha" team (Yaning Fu, Ran Lian, Huan Liang, Ruiqi Wang, Xilei Chen) claimed first place with their AI and big data-driven customer relationship management system, winning a 3,000 RMB prize. The "TradeVortex" team (Jiwoo Lee, Hyeongmin Cho, Haeun Ki, Yeojin Jung, Heeseo Jeon) secured second place and 2,000 RMB for their innovative hotel payment system. The "Giveme(5)" team (Yanhan Jin, Yixuan Chen, Yujia Dai, Jiayi Wang, Zhaozilu Zhou) earned third place and 1,000 RMB for optimizing supply chain management in Canada’s smart pet products market.
Beyond an academic contest, the competition bridged academia and industry. Projects spanned cutting-edge fields like smart logistics, virtual reality shopping, and green supply chains. Notably, most business proposals addressed real corporate needs, with all finalist teams paired with industry mentors for one-on-one guidance, transforming classroom theories into commercial practices. This industry-rooted approach reflects IBSS’s educational ethos of "dialogue between technology and industry."
IBSS, as the largest English-language business school in China, continues to lead in fostering innovation through practical, collaborative learning. By aligning academic rigor with real-world challenges, the competition exemplifies how technology and creativity can shape the future of global commerce.
14 Mar 2025