Geplaatst op 14 juni 2019
We’re looking back on the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2019 that was organized by The Netherlands and the United States on 4 and 5 June 2019. For two days, the World Forum in The Hague was transformed into a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The summit united 2,000 global leaders in entrepreneurship, innovation, investment and policy to support deals that matter to the world.
The five main topics that were addressed were: water, agri/food, energy, health and connectivity. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management has asked Connekt to act as the Dutch sector lead for the topic Connectivity. In close collaboration with the Ministry, Connekt produced three energizing sessions together with the US counterpart. During the inspiring opening, Her Majesty the Queen Maxima, the US Secretary of Transportation, Elaine L. Chao and Minister Sigrid Kaag addressed the need for collaboration between entrepreneurs, investors, corporates and policy makers from all over the world to find and create solutions for global challenges.
The ability for humans to speed up with technological changes is a challenge. It requires a change in the in the mindset of people in the ecosystems where public and private collaboration is needed.
Technology in a fast changing world
On day one of the summit, Connekt had the pleasure of hosting two sessions focusing on resilient cities and the future of logistics. During both sessions the human factor was a key topic. Carolien Nijhuis from KPN spoke about the challenges concerning data: “You have to make sure that the sharing of data is done quickly and secure. With the privacy concerns in mind. You want to make sure that sharing is done in the best possible way.” Technology is moving at an extreme pace in the fast changing world toward digitalization. So the ability for humans to speed up with this change is a challenge. It requires a change in the in the mindset of people in the ecosystems where public and private collaboration is needed.
Meaningful impact and innovative solutions
The next day we hosted the Connectivity Solution Stage that addressed great global movements on the livability in cities. Mr. Jeff DeWit, CFO of NASA, moderated the session and guided us through the shared purpose, constraints and how to overcome them to create meaningful impact. We were happy to have Minister Sigrid Kaag kick off the Solution Stage and have State Secretary Mona Keijzer do the round up after all the presented solutions. Mona Keijzer spoke about the need to network and connect people: “When people relate to each other (..) ideas can become products and get to market.”
Connectivity can improve the quality of lives and the quality of life in cities. Therefore, intelligent access and smart mobility technologies connecting people, places and products are very much needed. An example of that is PostNL and BigMile, which announced they will work together in reducing their environmental footprint. Networking power from knowledge institutions, investors, government officials, non-governmental organizations help create opportunities, generate transformation and solve problems.