Innovators from around the world are arriving in Thailand this weekend for the Ispim Connects Bangkok 2020 conference that opens on Sunday and runs until Wednesday.
The International Society for Professional Innovation Management is the oldest, largest, most active and truly international innovation network that aims to advance knowledge and practice in the domain of innovation management.
If you’re interested in the field of innovation and have some free time, then seize the opportunity and participate. Here is a brief look at some of the highlights you can expect:
Keynote speakers: Ispim has lined up an exciting mix of international innovation experts and local innovation practitioners.They will aim to inspire the audience with a mix of fresh insights, emerging trends and new methods and tools. They include:
♦Marta Pérez Cusó of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific will introduce “Next-generation innovation strategies in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.
♦Joe Chetaphan Siridanupath of Kasikorn Business Technology Group will share local experiences and best practices in “Managing innovation in the digital age”.
♦John Bessant, professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Exeter Business School, will talk about “Crisis-driven innovation”, surely a hot topic given the coronavirus threat gripping the world.
♦William Malek of the Bangkok-based SEAC Innovation Center will introduce the audience to “The 12 creative paradoxes that drive innovation in university and industry collaborations”
♦In his keynote, “What’s going on with corporate innovation?”, Stefan Lindegaard of 9Leaders will share his views on how the domain of innovation might evolve in the future.
♦Natalie Turner of The Entheo Network will discuss “How to develop 4.0 Leadership skills to harness workforce diversity and drive innovation in Southeast Asia”.
♦My colleague at Bangkok University’s Institute for Knowledge and Innovation - South-East Asia (IKI-SEA), Vincent Ribière, will explore an interesting question: “Can Artificial Intelligence be creative?”
♦Last but not least, I will talk about “How to identify those agile, creative types who drive (digital) innovation”. I will argue that finding the right talents is vital for organisations to succeed in the fast-paced, disruptive innovation economy of the 21st century. Embracing new cognitive profiling tools designed for innovation is one way that can help.
Conference challenge: Every Ispim conference tackles a local innovation challenge with global relevance. In cooperation with the Thai Management Association (TMA), we decided to work on the challenge: “How to launch new win-win initiatives to stimulate university-industry-government collaboration in Thailand.”
An expert panel will explore the topic and attendees will then break out into four groups representing different segments of an innovation ecosystem (government agencies, universities, large corporations, and startups and SMEs) to look at the challenge from their respective perspectives.
Panels and workshops: Another interesting panel discussion focuses on “Stimulating innovation in Southeast Asia”. Led by Vincent Ribière, the four panelists (myself included) will share their views on the historic evolution and current state of innovation in the region. We will share success stories, explore challenges and opportunities, and make suggestions on how to take innovation in Asean to the next level.
Ispim Connects Bangkok will also feature a series of stimulating workshops, academic paper presentations and more. The latter will be presented in topical sessions such as “Digital disruption and transformation”, “AI and digital innovation”, “Innovation ecosystems”, “Innovation training, teaching and coaching”, “Open innovation”, “Futures and foresight”, “Health, healthcare and innovation management”, “Business model innovation”, and “Startups and SMEs”, among others.
Dr Detlef Reis is the founding director and chief ideator of Thinkergy, the “Know how to Wow” Innovation Company in Asia and beyond. He is also an assistant professor at the Institute for Knowledge & Innovation - Southeast Asia at Bangkok University, and an adjunct associate professor at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Email dr.d@thinkergy.com