In 2017, the University of Otago Business School launched a professional doctoral programme in business with the aim of closing the gap between the Business School and businesses. Students, who are working professionals, focus on resolving critical problems for their business or industries through the application of scientific research processes.

The Otago DBA conference is an opportunity to not only showcase the applied research being done by the DBA students at Otago, but also to highlight the importance of universities working with industry and businesses to find solutions to complex problems.