The document reviews multiple seminars discussing topics such as economic inequality, digital business, and cryptocurrency, highlighting both speaker perspectives and audience reflections. Attendees expressed varying levels of interest and disagreement with viewpoints presented, particularly noting the perceived bias in the economic inequality seminar. The importance of adapting to digital transformation in business and understanding cultural differences in American business contexts were emphasized throughout the discussions.

1. Seminar Slide cast

2. • HOW ECONOMIC INEQUALITY HARMS SOCIETY – RICHARD WILKINSON –
22 NOVEMBER 2017 - AULA BLANDIJNBERG – 20H # 22H
• WHEN DIGITAL BECOMES HUMAN – STEVEN VAN BELLEGHEM – 19
DECEMBER 2017 – AULA A3 KANTIENBERG – 14H30 # 16H30
• DOING BUSINESS IN THE USA – ELIZABETH KELLY – 27 FEBRUARY 2018 –
AULA A3 KANTIENBERG 14H30 # 16H30
• CAPITANT SLOTDEBAT – KOEN DE LEUS, RUDY AERNOUDT VS JEAN-LUC
VERHELST, JO VERCAMMEN – 02 MAY 2018 – AULA QUETELET
TWEEKERKENSTRAAT – 19H30 # 21H00
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3. How Economic Inequality Harms
Society
In this seminar the speaker tried to make clear that there
is a lot of economic inequality and that this has huge
negative influences on people. He focused on these
influences and spread them out, economic inequality
had an influence on - community life: this became
weaker, the crime rate was higher in countries with a
higher inequality etc. – Security labor: More guards and
security personnel in countries with high inequality –
Mental state: More depression, suicide, social status
anxiety etc. – Less consumption and social dividing. So
the main part of the seminar was what this does to
social relationships within societies but not on how this
could be fixed. Finally there was a part on how Belgium
tries to manage this, basically through living wages,
incentives and economic democracy. A huge part

4. Reflection: How Economic Inequality
Harms Society
 Before attending the seminar I looked up the topic and the speaker and I
definitely wanted to learn more on this topic. My impression on the speaker
was rather good as well but for me the seminar was rather negative. The
seminar was hosted by Comac-Gent, the student division of Pvda which is
basically the communist party in Belgium. This was no issue at first but during
the whole seminar I just felt like this was some cult meeting where the speaker
was speaking out of one viewpoint, a rather extreme left one. While I don’t
mind hearing different viewpoints they were speaking like they were right and
they knew the truth while a lot of the examples were just not representative at
all, some of the informative slides where severely outdated and some scientific
studies where taken on a irrelevant sample in my opinion so I don’t believe I
learned much from this seminar. For relevance sake, my political views are not
extreme right and I heard some good leftist speeches in the past so I didn’t go
to the seminar with clouded views.

5. When Digital Becomes Human
This seminar was all about the intertwining of the digital world with the human world in
terms of doing business. A lot of focus was put on the benefits there are for the customer as
well as for the business. One keynote that stuck was the fact he told us that the world has
changed and if we invest in the digital aspect of our business we create a really efficient way
of working while if we invest in the human aspect of business we create a customer oriented
environment. Consumers have changed so companies need to change too. Companies can
offer a huge aspect now which is what people are looking for and that is convenience. The
digital side of doing business has a huge role in this. Another big part of his lecture was
Artificial Intelligence and the ethical debates this brings out. So a digitalizing world brings
challenges and insecurities to our world like the fear of what AI might be capable of but on
the other hand this digitalizing has a huge potential that will bring forth huge
developments. It is, in fact, already happening.

6. Reflection: When Digital
Becomes Human
 This topic was one that really interested me and thus was an easy choice. I
have a hard time keeping my attention focused but here this wasn’t really
an issue as I think the speaker does a good job of making his lecture
interesting with enough examples to go by. I knew a lot on this topic but I
learned so much more attending the seminar and this was a valuable
experience. Mr. Van Belleghem also brings out the possible negative sides
that could arise and not only focuses on one viewpoint so I think that was
really good. This is definitely a speaker that I would see for another
seminar in the future.

7. Doing Business In The USA
This seminar did not only focus on doing business in The USA but
also answered some questions on the culture and how people are.
This is obviously very important as people are business so good
dividing of focus. A really important point Ms. Kelly was trying to
make is that it’s important to stand out in the US, Americans don’t
like wallflowers. Bring out your Uniqueness. The lecturer stated
that America IS a land of great opportunity as there are no
problems with making mistakes and failure is accepted. What
surprised me is the amount of times Americans change jobs and
how this is seen as positive. These small things definitely make up
for cultural surprises and with this obviously comes cultural
warnings. Some things that you just shouldn’t do and watch out for
were pointed out very clear, we shouldn’t expect the US to be like
on TV and should watch out for some things we say as well.

8. Reflection: Doing Business In The USA
 The topic interested me a lot and the fact that Ms. Kelly put a lot of the
focus on social interactions and employee values while giving an
interactive lecture made up for a good seminar. I have always wanted to
go to the USA so learning from real life experiences rather than TV shows
holds so much more value. I learned a lot of new things and was really
glad I attended this seminar. I was not sure before as I thought it may be
boring but it turned out pretty good. The lecture did not entirely change
my views on the US but definitely had some impact. In a positive way
though as all you hear nowadays on the US is pretty negative.

9. Capitant Slotdebate: The Crypto
Bubble?
Not one but four speakers (& one mediator) gave the audience some insights
on cryptocurrencies. The viewpoints were interesting and as I am into this
topic the information went in pretty easily. One of the points the con team
used that I definitely could relate to was the high volatility cryptocurrencies
tend to have. They put up some evidences on the fact that cryptocurrencies
are so volatile that they mostly depend on market psychology and thus is an
unreliable asset. The pro team then went on the fact that return as well as
liquidity makes up for this as these both are really high with cryptocurrencies.
They are convinced it’s not a bubble but rather a great market opportunity.
Both viewpoints were relatable but as I know this topic myself and have my
own views I tended to lean towards the con team.

10. Reflection: The Crypto Bubble?
 This seminar was a last minute decision as I decided to join a classmate
just before. I’m glad I did it was an interesting lecture as it was totally
different from the others. We did not hear one person express their
opinion but four so view were challenged and it was fun to hear. I myself
have been into cryptocurrencies a lot as I wanted to research what all the
fuss was about. Made some money as well but I could not agree with
much of the pro side’s arguments. I do believe cryptocurrencies have
potential but only short term and with a lot of risk. But I loved hearing
other views and I even heard some things I did not know at al. A positive
overall experience.

11. My Research

12. Own research: When Digital Becomes
Human
As this was the presentation that interested me the most I did not mind
digging in further on the topic. A really important aspect of this was that this
is no thing of the future and the digital world has already put its roots deep
into the human one. What intrigues me the most is the use of AI and how this
is already present. But it’s not alone, I found an article describing three
examples of the convergence of the physical world with a virtual one: Bio
syncing, Mixed reality and AI. From what I learned when digging deeper into
these subjects is that there is a Mixed reality revolution going on now
claiming to have the same impact as a smartphone did. Mixed Reality is
basically a merging of physical and virtual worlds where an environment is
create where physical and virtual object co-exists. It has been there for a while
but now it’s apparently at it’s peak. Bio syncing is also climbing significantly
and opens up so many doors for humankind.

13. Own research: When Digital Becomes
Human
The mixing of virtual and physical worlds has obviously huge market potential as the possibilities for marketing
and doing business are huge. Digitizing your business is key today as it leads to so many benefits:
 Increased Productivity
 Cost efficiency
 Easy to access and always accessible
 Enhanced security
 Enhanced Information Preservation
 Disaster recovery
 Saves space
 Stay Competitive
 Environmentally friendly
 Digital Transformation

14. Own research: When Digital Becomes
Human
A lot of businesses need to catch on the digitizing though, people need more
reasons to keep their business up with this environment. The new generations
seem to play this field much better though so the business world as we know
it will change significantly. The options and possibilities are there now the
input. Some companies are putting everything they have in these
advancements and one of the role models here is amazon where
automatization and innovation are key.
What we definitely need to keep in check and this is where I found Amazon
plays a role in as well (not a positive one) is that we can’t forget about the
human value in companies as we progress in this new mixed world.
The research definitely brought up some questions but sadly enough I did not
ask the lecturer anything. Maybe the opportunity arises in the future.

15. Bibliography Own Research
 Hurley, D. (2016, December 1). Convergence Virtual and Physical Worlds.
Retrieved from Medium.com: https://medium.com/emergent-future/the-
convergence-of-physical-virtual-worlds-mixed-reality-ai-biosyncing-
3670e595bbde
 Michael Chui, M. L. (2010, March). The Internet Of Things. Retrieved from
Mckinsey.com: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-
insights/the-internet-of-things?cid=other-eml-cls-mip-mck-oth-1603
 N.A. (N.A). Business Digitization. Retrieved from Frost.com:
https://ww2.frost.com/consulting/key-client-issues/business-digitization/
 Rizzotto, L. (2016, November 30). Mixed Reality Revolution Is Here. Retrieved
from Medium.com: https://medium.com/futurepi/the-mixed-reality-revolution-
is-here-and-itll-change-your-world-forever-177b06dac792