University of Baltimore's Center for Digital Communication, Commerce and Culture Welcomes Its First Research Fellow
November 8, 2016
Contact: Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
Marco Savastano, a doctoral candidate from the University of Rome (Sapienza) and a researcher in the growing field of digital technologies, has been named the inaugural fellow for the University of Baltimore's Center for Digital Communication, Commerce and Culture. Savastano is currently focusing his research on the potentially transformative impact of digital manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing and collaborative design on the creation of all kinds of products, especially by smaller companies. He will also support the center's activities with scholarship and special initiatives within his specialization.
"It is a pleasure to have Marco join us," said Eusebio Scornavacca, associate professor of management information systems in the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business and the University's Parsons Professor for Digital Communication, Commerce and Culture as well as director of the center. "His work will contribute to our center's fundamental role, which is to act as an interdisciplinary catalyst for activities related to digital innovation at the University. Our activities aim to foster the development of digital competences and leadership in our community as well as the diffusion and advancement of digital innovations. Basically, in the new digital ecosystem, we are determined to help create the connective tissue that can drive innovation and create entrepreneurial as well as job opportunities."
"The fourth Industrial Revolution is currently attracting great interest of governments, academics and practitioners in the European Union," Savastano said. "The development of digital capabilities is strategic and fundamental for future economic growth. I feel privileged to have received funding from my home institution to come to UB's Center for Digital Communication, Commerce and Culture for this academic year. I will be developing my work under the supervision of Prof. Scornavacca, who is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of digital transformation."
Scornavacca noted that digital technologies are having a "disruptive" effect on manufacturing, compelling small- and medium-sized companies to invest in precision equipment and training for the workers who operate the machinery. Entrepreneurship is also a key component of this burgeoning change, as innovators make strides in building software and hardware that can make product development much more efficient and easier to manage. Savastano's work, he noted, is supported by a partnership between the center and Lazio FabLab, a fabrication and innovation incubator with several locations in Italy.
Learn more about UB's Center for Digital Communication, Commerce and Culture and Prof. Scornavacca.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.