Thought Leaders

People assume that innovation is about brilliant ideas. The truth is ideas are abundant. What’s rare and hard is transforming an idea into something real that creates value for others. That realization led to the creation of Idea Miners. After an IT career spanning tech, development, management, and enterprise architecture,...

The COVID-19 pandemic affirmed what I’ve long believed: Crisis brings out the best in those who truly care about their community – and philanthropy is the place to turn both for immediate help and long-term resiliency. Philanthropy creates hope for those in need, and it creates a stronger connection between...

The speed at which artificial intelligence is reshaping industries is breathtaking, and companies that don’t figure out their digitalization strategy — including how they will use AI — risk falling behind. But too often, organizations rush into adopting digital tools without a clear sense of what they are trying to...

FOSTERING A CULTURE OF LEADERS AND INNOVATIONI was fortunate to have an ambitious father who embedded leadership heavily into my life. I feel it is important for any leader to have a mentor, and this is the reason we focus so heavily on mentorship at Supashock. A mentor is someone...

Valley Bank is built on a foundation of more than 90 years of history, strengthened by a legacy of local relationship building, exceptional risk management and meticulous credit underwriting. This has afforded us with a reputation of trust and reliability in the communities we serve. But for an organization with...

Thought leaders in the truest sense, Erin Mays and Kalyn Rozanski of Ebco are completely reenvisioning and disrupting the trend and innovation research space with unique and differentiated products and services that support global Fortune 1000 companies. Coming from design thinking and qualitative research backgrounds, Mays shares “we no longer...

The government is famous for operating under the philosophy – “If it ain’t broke, fix it till it is”. That may be why we throw millions, even billions of dollars at the same problem every year and get the same results. After being elected to the San Diego County Board...

Innovation means constantly learning from experiences of the past and using those as guideposts and insights to invent a better future—in this case, to make the health care system serve everyone better. Innovation can mean many things. I look at Innovation using a lens of small “i” and BIG “I”...

As practicing physicians and frontline workers, my business partner and I were amazed to discover communications between surgical teams and the patient’s family members were not as frequent as they should be. While it can be difficult to communicate with the patient’s family during surgery, because the surgical team is...

Reflection on the Evolution of South Florida’s Innovation Ecosystem For more than a decade, it’s been my honor and privilege to be deeply immersed within the South Florida entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. As the Director of Florida Atlantic University’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship, a member of Tech Runway’s Board, a...

Philadelphia is a city that understands beginnings. As one of the oldest in the nation and the birthplace of independence, it is a place of ideas and possibilities. Just blocks from the Pennsylvania State House, where the founders gathered to imagine a new republic, another American institution was already taking...

My name is Alexander Saverys, I’m the CEO of CMB, a diversified shipping company owning 135 ships active in dry bulk shipping, container transport, chemical tankers and offshore wind support. Our cleantech division, CMB.TECH, is a market leader in the development of hydrogen applications for the marine and other industries....

As the world moves in cycles, we see that change is constant. The pendulum swings and with global lockdowns, continuous quantitative easing, and privacy breaches – we are approaching a point of conflicting overreach and control. However, there is hope! History shows that human ingenuity will always find a way....

In fact, one former recipient of our Young Citizen of the Year Award – in which we recognise young people who have made exceptional contributions by leading through generosity and enterprise – has just been elected to Council. We recognise and acclaim community-led events – festivals; sporting, arts and cultural...

In a rapidly changing world, with long-term disruptive evolutions, innovation is a powerful response. The ambition of Port of Antwerp-Bruges is to be the world’s first port that reconciles economy, people and climate. We believe in innovation as a lever towards a sustainable future. That is why the focus on...

I have always believed that innovation is not a destination – it’s a continuous journey and a culture you build one bold idea at a time. Innovation is not just born in boardrooms – it lives in the in-between moments. In a hallway conversation between a life sciences founder and...

It has been about a year since I joined the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce as President/CEO. Having served both business and the Chamber in various capacities over the years, I have the professional experience for this job, but what I really bring to the table is passion—we can be...

At the University of Antwerp, we are committed to being a dynamic, entrepreneurial and forward-thinking institution that actively helps shape the future. We conduct excellent, fundamental research, and are internationally recognised in several key domains. But I believe our responsibility goes beyond academic excellence. It is crucial that the knowledge...

By launching the 2022-2027 Québec Research and Innovation Investment Strategy (QRIIS2) and creating the role of chief innovator, our government has committed to putting innovation front and centre in Québec’s economic development in the coming years. More than ever, we want to support all those who have the desire to...

Innovation policy around the world puts massive emphasis on the importance of increasing entrepreneurship for economic, and more recently, social impact. In many cases, there is a fairly narrow focus on digital tech-based startups, “tech”- style entrepreneurs, and programming to increase the number of people who act like them. This...

Social innovation—the opportunity to leverage creativity and innovation to solve complex problems and help people and communities thrive—is often associated with entrepreneurs or singular individuals. Though this is true and is certainly one aspect of the formula that leads to meaningful impact, it isn’t the full story. The reality is...

The current pace of new technology-led change has left classic economy companies vulnerable, but disruption is also a huge borderless opportunity in a world where ultrafast digital connectivity and the information superhighway has democratized innovation. We have a choice. We can view Airbnb as strangling the hotel industry or see...

Area President, Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic How many times do you need to repeat an exercise before you truly become an expert?  According to Malcolm Gladwell in “Outliers: The Story of Success” it takes 10,000 hours and he points to many successful examples of how “The 10,000 Hour Rule” has paid...

THE COURAGE TO BUILD THE FUTURE When we started Fermi Energia in 2019, there were a handful of nuclear experts in Estonia, but not nearly enough for a nuclear power plant. There was no law to regulate nuclear energy. No political support. No clear understanding of which technology to choose,...