Last week, Fundação Getulio Vargas held the opening lecture for the 26^th edition of the Executive MBA in Administration: Policy and Strategy, within the scope of the Army Policy, Strategy and Senior Management Course (CPEAEx) at the Army Command and General Staff School.

During his talk, the president of FGV, Professor Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal, had the opportunity to address today’s geopolitical landscape and its complex implications for Brazil’s international position. Issues related to artificial intelligence, data science, technology and innovation were also discussed, prompting reflection on the need for the country to move forward and deal with challenges inherent to the phenomenon of digitalization.

The lecture took place on the 12^th floor of FGV’s main building in Rio de Janeiro, in the M.F. Thompson Motta Auditorium. It was attended by the head of the Army Command and General Staff School, Brigadier General Mario Eduardo Moura Sassone; the academic coordinator of the CPEAEx MBA, Professor Bianor Scelza Cavalcanti; FGV director, Professor Irapoan Cavalcanti; Army General Joaquim Brandão; Admiral and former Brazilian Navy Commander Ilques Barbosa Junior; the administrative vice dean of FGV EBAPE, Professor Roberto Pimenta; and the academic vice dean of FGV EBAPE, Professor Alketa Peci.

The event also featured the head of the Army Command and General Staff School’s Policy and Strategy Section, Colonel Glauber Netis; the academic coordinator of the MBA: Professor Nivaldo Machado; the deputy coordinator of the MBA, Professor Guilherme R. Garcia Marques; FGV In Company project coordinators Elenice Magalhães and Wilma Barbosa; and Colonel Evandro Vaz, FGV advisor on defense matters.

Target audience

The Army Policy, Strategy and Senior Management Course (CPEAEx) is designed for colonels selected on merit, with the aim of training military managers to face organizational and administrative challenges inherent to their functions, as well as enabling them to advise the highest levels of the Armed Forces, the Defense Ministry and other government bodies.

According to Professor Bianor Cavalcanti, “The longevity of the Executive MBA in Administration: Policy and Strategy, held annually since 1999, and its approval as a strategic product by the Defense Ministry, attest to the importance of this program for the Brazilian Army. It has so far contributed to the training of more than a thousand student officers, 157 of whom have gone on to become generals and play leading roles in strategic areas of government and public policy formulation in Brazil.”