Tsinghua-UNC EMBA 2013 Opening Ceremony. (People's Daily Online/Du Mingming)

Beijing, Oct 23 (People's Daily Online) --- The key of logistics supply chain in future IT era lies in big data and cloud computing, said Professor Cai Linning on the Global Supply Chain Leadership Forum held in Tsinghua University on Oct. 19, 2013.

The forum, held after the Tsinghua-UNC EMBA 2013 Opening Ceremony, is the first class of the Tsinghua-UNC EMBA 2013 program. Guests and students who were present had in-depth exchanges and discussions on Shanghai Free Trade Zone and supply chain innovation.

Professor Cai Linning, co-director of the EMBA program, said that the core of supply chain is to integrate supply chain resources and generate innovation. In the future, the key of supply chain is information technology, while the future information technology is big data and cloud computing.

Wang Wei, Deputy Director of Research Institute of Market Economy, Development Research Center of the State Council, introduced the Shanghai Free Trade Zone from a macro perspective. She said that the establishment of Free Trade Zone trial in Shanghai is to promote China's transition from a big country to a strong country, and enhance China's development level of open economy.

Zhang Ruining, an EMBA student working in Shanghai Cultural Property Exchange, said that the function of Shanghai Free Trade Zone was to provide a service platform for innovation. It should provide more logistics, trading and derivatives stream flow, instead of providing warehouses.

The EMBA program jointly established by Department of Industrial Engineering of Tsinghua University and Kenan-Flagler Business School of University of North Carolina (UNC) is the first dual-degree program in supply chain management and logistics, which provides a new interdisciplinary study by integrating engineering with business administration. The program focuses on developing students' engineer thinking, training their engineering, and refining their entrepreneurship including adventure, dedication, honesty, communication, and kindness.