Keynote Sessions

George Buckley, current Executive Chairman of the Board, recently retired President, & CEO, 3M, Chairman of the Partnership, Arle Capital Partners

The topic of innovation has become a flavor of the day. But the real problem goes much deeper than that, as we've seen with recent failures at some of the world's former leading organizations. Inventing the future is not enough, you have to adopt it and assimilate it like an alien being- and while doing so, remain globally competitive. In this session, Sir George Buckley tackles current and future challenges for companies seeking to find untapped opportunities for growth, and how 3M has consistently stayed ahead of the pace of change to remain a world leader in innovation.

Vince Voron, Head of Design, Coca-Cola North America (and former Apple Sr. Industrial Design Manager)

What is the future in strategic brand identity and how are leading corporations evolving to become more design-centric? Vince Voron shares the journey of how consumer focused design is changing finance, marketing and manufacturing methodologies within larger companies. He brings his experience to the table and observes the growing trends of: shifts of innovation investment hierarchy, the growing responsibility of designers and the correlation between holistic brand design and brand value. This session details why companies can't afford to not be design-centric, how to create a balance of investment and design driven innovation, and the future and importance of interdisciplinary relationships.

Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius, Director, The Kaos Pilots – International School of New Business Design & Social Innovation

With a new take on the traditional Business School model, Kaos Pilots strives to qualify the student vocationally as well as personally to thrive interdependently by developing their knowledge, skills and attitudes as pro-active learners, value-based leaders and sustainable entrepreneurs, for the benefit of themselves and society as a whole. Students must explore what they consider to be positive societal change, and then adjust their actions to aid this development, while helping others to do the same. In short: They create the frames where young, creative minds become leaders.

Christian Bason, Director of Innovation, MindLab

Learn insights about driving innovation inside government. MindLab, an innovation unit run by three ministries in Denmark, has for more than a decade assisted decision makers with co-creating policies and services through systematic citizen involvement. But what does it take to successfully drive innovation in bureaucratic, political environments? In fields as diverse as business policy, employment services and the tax system, MindLab has found that ethnographic research and design-led methods can help power better solutions to complex challenges. Christian will draw on this experience as well as his four books on leadership and innovation, most recently Leading Public Sector Innovation: Co-Creating for a Better Society.

Jean-Philippe Deschamps, Emeritus Professor, Technology and Innovation Management, IMD Business School

Innovation leaders are those senior executives who stimulate, steer and sustain innovation. Professor Deschamps provides an overview of the observations he has made on innovation leaders through 35 years of practice and research on innovation management. His lecture will be split in four parts: (1)Defining Innovation Leaders – Who are they and what do they do?, (2)Characterizing their general attributes and behavior – What is special about their focus and attitudes? (3)Distinguishing between different types of leaders – How different are "front-end" from "back-end" leaders?, and (4)Aligning innovation leadership and strategies – What leadership style is required for different innovation strategies?

Jason Foster, Founder & Chief Re-User, Replenish

By rethinking the fundamental design of a bottle, Replenish has created a Reusable Bottle System that unlocks hidden value for consumers, brands and retailers by saving money, raising product quality and reducing waste. This keynote describes how: Reuse should be seen as a strategic necessity to make your brand more competitive in the marketplace; The message is the bottle. Instill your brand's values into the very object consumers touch everyday.; Reuse shatters the notion that disposability is the only path to creating more convenience for your consumers.; Reuse is a strategic tool to attract/retain customers and can be more cost effective than traditional marketing programs.

Mads Nipper, Chief Marketing Officer, LEGO

Get an insight into how the LEGO Group drives innovation from the core - balancing newness, continuity and value-chain efficiency. You will also explore how the LEGO Group engages different stakeholders into our innovation processes, and how different tools, processes and capabilities are applied for our different areas of innovation.

Jean-Michel Cossery, Vice President, Chief Marketing officer, GE Healthcare

Meeting the needs of rural populations in emerging economies requires gaining a deep understanding of the needs and the practice of medicine in these markets. GE Healthcare is reversing its traditional business model in many cases. Rather than follow its historical path of developing products in the U.S. and Europe and adapting them for emerging markets, they are shifting R&D on some products to developing countries to meet local needs. Teams are set up in more than a dozen countries, with unprecedented autonomy, to develop technologies at the right price, right size & right functionality for these emerging markets. In many cases, these developments have great application in the developed world as well.