Thought Leaders

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

TSHEPO TSHEKO

ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOTSWANA DIGITAL AND INNOVATION HUB (BDIH)

Unleashing Botswana’s Innovation Culture… As Robert Tucker noted, “Innovation is everyone’s business.” If we are to unpack this a little bit more, it simply says that in order for an innovation system to be successful, all of its members must be enabled to participate in whichever way they would desire....

INNOVATIONS in Pharmaceutical Development®

DR. GER BROPHY

DR. GER BROPHY

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTOF BIOPHARMA PRODUCTION, AVANTOR

Bioproduction has taken a remarkable journey over the last several decades. In recent years, the demand for specific and powerful biologic therapies has continued to increase, underpinned by the ongoing development of monoclonal antibodies therapies (mAbs) and augmented by new platforms such as Cell and Gene Therapy and also nucleic...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

NICHOLAS NING

FOUNDER & CEO, FARPOINT

Entrepreneurship and innovation are two sides of the same coin. They are the lifeblood of the modern business ecosystem. Entrepreneurs are the risk-takers who dare to disrupt, and innovation is their weapon of choice. Together, they form a potent mix that drives economies forward, reshapes industries, and even improves lives....

Global Innovation Spotlight

FRANK LEYHAUSEN

CEO AF1 GMBH, COLOGNE, GERMANY

In almost all countries of the developed world, the labor market is under pressure. The reason: Demographic change has shrunk the number of people of working age. Seriously? I don’t think so! In Western society, age is and always has been associated with the loss of skills and abilities. For...

INNOVATE® Minnesota

Reed Robinson

Reed Robinson

Founder - BETA

Nearly 150 years ago, General Cadwallader Washburn and Charles Pillsbury set up mills along the Mississippi, introducing scalable food-processing and global food distribution. A short time later, William Worrall Mayo moved to Rochester, and with the help of his two sons and the Sisters of Saint Francis, they would invent...

INNOVATE® Nashville

YESI SEVILLA

DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT & ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

WORDS OF WISDOM:Innovation does not belong to just one industry, just one degree, or just one area of expertise – it belongs to everyone. Solving problems requires courage, creativity, and collaboration. All of us can be empowered to ideate, but our strength is in the collective. I have always thought...

AI Québec

GILLES SAVARD

GILLES SAVARD

DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL -IVADO

Moteur d’innovation, les données sont au cœur de la transformation numérique qui s’impose partout. Liées à plusieurs technologies numériques habilitantes arrivant à maturité dont, l’infonuagique, l’internet des objets, le 5G, le 3D, la réalité augmentée, la robotique, etc., ces données et leur valorisation par l’analytique sont les véritables activateurs de...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

DIRK REYN

DIRK REYN

CHAIRMAN, FLANDERS BIO

As the chairman of flanders.bio, an ex-CEO of four (4) start-up companies and an investor in the biotech scene in Europe, my heart and soul lie with Biotech. I have seen the Biotech landscape in Flanders grow to the absolute top in Europe. It is not without reason that the...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

CARINE CHISU

According to the World Economic Forum 70% of people will have to reskill and upskill to maintain or develop their employability in future years. In my opinion ‘employability’ is the translation of the concept of innovation on an individual level, that will lead to innovation with a capital I, on...

INNOVATE® Gainesville

Rich Blaser

Rich Blaser

Co-Founder & CO-CEO - Infinite Energy

I can’t think of a better place to start a business than Gainesville. When my business partner and I started here more than 25 years ago, it was the location that drew us. Geographically we’re at the hub of a wheel–just two hours from Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa–so we...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

OLLE LAGERQUIST

CO-CHAIR, ERIN

Innovation Increases RelevanceInnovation changes its meaning from person to person; however, I see it as a new or improved method, process, approach, product, strategy, or service that increases impact and value. Innovation helps organizations, products, services, and entire regions stay relevant. As such, communities and regions that promote and grow...

INNOVATE® Minnesota

Keith Tanski

Keith Tanski

CTO - Optum

Innovation to me is working to never settle… and to continually be obsessive over creating a continued better experience and product. This means that status quos need to continually obsess over all spectrums and that we need to realize that the greatness that got us to this point will not...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

ANNELEEN VANDER ELSTRAETEN

FOUR & FIVE - MANAGING PARTNER

WHY INNOVATORS NEED A NEW BREED OF LAW FIRM When I first started my legal career, founding my own law firm wasn’t even a consideration. I was content working at a top-tier firm, focusing on drafting contracts and managing legal transactions. But everything changed during a business trip to Silicon...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

STEPHEN OEHLEY

STEPHEN OEHLEY

FOUNDER, XTENDEVENT.COM

I’m just a boy from Benoni inspired by a loving family and good friends that put values first. My proudest contribution to this world will always be my son Nicholas, who inspires everyone around him. My career has primarily been B2B focused and spanned trade publishing, trade exhibitions, running a...

AI Québec

STEVEN WEST

STEVEN WEST

PROFESSOR, CBE, DL.

On the 27th March I attended a meeting on campus with colleagues from the NHS, army logistics, architects, designers and building contractors. Over the next two hours we agreed the site was viable and the preferred option to support the region. I made the decision there and then to handover...

INNOVATE® Detroit

TINA KOZAK

CEO - FRANCO

It’s an amazing time to be a Detroiter. Yes, the city has its fair share of challenges, but its reputation is on the rise. As noted in a recent PR News article about Detroit’s renaissance, “Behind every rehabbed reputation lies really hard work, dedicated individuals and, of course, some strategic...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

Dr. Gregory Olsen

GHO Ventures - “Angel” Investor

GHO Ventures

In order to understand what GHO Ventures is, we need to talk about Dr. Gregory Olsen. Greg started the company EPITAXX, a fiber-optic detector manufacturer in 1984 together with Vladimir Ban. It was sold in 1990 for $12 million. He then founded Sensors Unlimited, a near-infrared camera manufacturer in 1992...

VOICES of the Future

DR. RISA RYGER

EMBRACING CHANGE FOR A VIBRANT FUTURE

In an era where change is our only constant, one woman has taken it upon herself to guide us through the shifting sands of time: Dr. Risa Ryger, a distinguished clinical psychologist, international speaker, and entrepreneur. She has dedicated her life to helping individuals and organizations navigate the often turbulent...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

ADRIAN GORE

ADRIAN GORE

FOUNDER, DISCOVERY

One of these cognitive errors is a failure to recognise the impact that outliers have in our increasingly interconnected world. Take for instance, the decision to create the Vitality programme. It is one outlier decision that had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on our entire business. A few...

INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3

COL (RET) STU BRADIN

COL (RET) STU BRADIN

GLOBAL SOF FOUNDATION

As I approached my retirement from U.S. Special Operations Command in 2014, I decided to keep serving my nation and the wider Special Operations community through the formation of a new professional SOF association – the Global SOF Foundation (GSF). Since 9/11 U.S. special operations forces (SOF) had over doubled...

INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath

CHARLES RADCLYFFE

PARTNER, ETHICS GRADE

“WE ARE CONCERNED FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WILL LOSE JOBS AS A RESULT OF AUTOMATION”.– CHARLES RADCLYFFE, PARTNER We are worried. Some of the things we worry about are the same as everyone else who is trying to imagine the impact of technology on our lives. We worry about how...

INNOVATE® Miami

Max Tuchman

Max Tuchman

Co-Founder & CEO - Caribu

If it’s a smooth road, it’s not worth traveling. I believe you only truly learn by making mistakes, stumbling, and having your experiments turn out differently than you expected (I don’t see those as failures). When we met, my co-founder just happened to be living in Miami, too. Since the...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

Alex Van Breedam

Alex Van Breedam

CEO, TRI-VIZOR

Logistics is facing important sustainability and capacity problems. The changing buying behaviour of the consumer, predominantly accelerated by the steep growth of e-commerce, is leading to increasingly smaller, but more frequent and ever faster deliveries. This fragmentation of deliveries is heavily boosting the need for transport capacity, while the shorter...

INNOVATE® Nashville

JAMES CROWE

FOUNDER, VANDERBILT VACCINE CENTER

I am a physician and a scientist, and I study the human immune system. When I was a senior medical student training to be a physician, I worked for several months as a pediatrician in a rural hospital in East Africa. The work was challenging to me, because of the...

TSHEPO TSHEKO

ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOTSWANA DIGITAL AND INNOVATION HUB (BDIH)

Unleashing Botswana’s Innovation Culture… As Robert Tucker noted, “Innovation is everyone’s business.” If we are to unpack this a little bit more, it simply says that in order for an innovation system to be successful, all of its members must be enabled to participate in whichever way they would desire....

DR. GER BROPHY

DR. GER BROPHY

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTOF BIOPHARMA PRODUCTION, AVANTOR

Bioproduction has taken a remarkable journey over the last several decades. In recent years, the demand for specific and powerful biologic therapies has continued to increase, underpinned by the ongoing development of monoclonal antibodies therapies (mAbs) and augmented by new platforms such as Cell and Gene Therapy and also nucleic...

NICHOLAS NING

FOUNDER & CEO, FARPOINT

Entrepreneurship and innovation are two sides of the same coin. They are the lifeblood of the modern business ecosystem. Entrepreneurs are the risk-takers who dare to disrupt, and innovation is their weapon of choice. Together, they form a potent mix that drives economies forward, reshapes industries, and even improves lives....

FRANK LEYHAUSEN

CEO AF1 GMBH, COLOGNE, GERMANY

In almost all countries of the developed world, the labor market is under pressure. The reason: Demographic change has shrunk the number of people of working age. Seriously? I don’t think so! In Western society, age is and always has been associated with the loss of skills and abilities. For...

Reed Robinson

Reed Robinson

Founder - BETA

Nearly 150 years ago, General Cadwallader Washburn and Charles Pillsbury set up mills along the Mississippi, introducing scalable food-processing and global food distribution. A short time later, William Worrall Mayo moved to Rochester, and with the help of his two sons and the Sisters of Saint Francis, they would invent...

YESI SEVILLA

DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT & ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

WORDS OF WISDOM:Innovation does not belong to just one industry, just one degree, or just one area of expertise – it belongs to everyone. Solving problems requires courage, creativity, and collaboration. All of us can be empowered to ideate, but our strength is in the collective. I have always thought...

GILLES SAVARD

GILLES SAVARD

DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL -IVADO

Moteur d’innovation, les données sont au cœur de la transformation numérique qui s’impose partout. Liées à plusieurs technologies numériques habilitantes arrivant à maturité dont, l’infonuagique, l’internet des objets, le 5G, le 3D, la réalité augmentée, la robotique, etc., ces données et leur valorisation par l’analytique sont les véritables activateurs de...

DIRK REYN

DIRK REYN

CHAIRMAN, FLANDERS BIO

As the chairman of flanders.bio, an ex-CEO of four (4) start-up companies and an investor in the biotech scene in Europe, my heart and soul lie with Biotech. I have seen the Biotech landscape in Flanders grow to the absolute top in Europe. It is not without reason that the...

CARINE CHISU

According to the World Economic Forum 70% of people will have to reskill and upskill to maintain or develop their employability in future years. In my opinion ‘employability’ is the translation of the concept of innovation on an individual level, that will lead to innovation with a capital I, on...

Rich Blaser

Rich Blaser

Co-Founder & CO-CEO - Infinite Energy

I can’t think of a better place to start a business than Gainesville. When my business partner and I started here more than 25 years ago, it was the location that drew us. Geographically we’re at the hub of a wheel–just two hours from Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa–so we...

OLLE LAGERQUIST

CO-CHAIR, ERIN

Innovation Increases RelevanceInnovation changes its meaning from person to person; however, I see it as a new or improved method, process, approach, product, strategy, or service that increases impact and value. Innovation helps organizations, products, services, and entire regions stay relevant. As such, communities and regions that promote and grow...

Keith Tanski

Keith Tanski

CTO - Optum

Innovation to me is working to never settle… and to continually be obsessive over creating a continued better experience and product. This means that status quos need to continually obsess over all spectrums and that we need to realize that the greatness that got us to this point will not...

ANNELEEN VANDER ELSTRAETEN

FOUR & FIVE - MANAGING PARTNER

WHY INNOVATORS NEED A NEW BREED OF LAW FIRM When I first started my legal career, founding my own law firm wasn’t even a consideration. I was content working at a top-tier firm, focusing on drafting contracts and managing legal transactions. But everything changed during a business trip to Silicon...

STEPHEN OEHLEY

STEPHEN OEHLEY

FOUNDER, XTENDEVENT.COM

I’m just a boy from Benoni inspired by a loving family and good friends that put values first. My proudest contribution to this world will always be my son Nicholas, who inspires everyone around him. My career has primarily been B2B focused and spanned trade publishing, trade exhibitions, running a...

STEVEN WEST

STEVEN WEST

PROFESSOR, CBE, DL.

On the 27th March I attended a meeting on campus with colleagues from the NHS, army logistics, architects, designers and building contractors. Over the next two hours we agreed the site was viable and the preferred option to support the region. I made the decision there and then to handover...

TINA KOZAK

CEO - FRANCO

It’s an amazing time to be a Detroiter. Yes, the city has its fair share of challenges, but its reputation is on the rise. As noted in a recent PR News article about Detroit’s renaissance, “Behind every rehabbed reputation lies really hard work, dedicated individuals and, of course, some strategic...

Dr. Gregory Olsen

GHO Ventures - “Angel” Investor

GHO Ventures

In order to understand what GHO Ventures is, we need to talk about Dr. Gregory Olsen. Greg started the company EPITAXX, a fiber-optic detector manufacturer in 1984 together with Vladimir Ban. It was sold in 1990 for $12 million. He then founded Sensors Unlimited, a near-infrared camera manufacturer in 1992...

DR. RISA RYGER

EMBRACING CHANGE FOR A VIBRANT FUTURE

In an era where change is our only constant, one woman has taken it upon herself to guide us through the shifting sands of time: Dr. Risa Ryger, a distinguished clinical psychologist, international speaker, and entrepreneur. She has dedicated her life to helping individuals and organizations navigate the often turbulent...

ADRIAN GORE

ADRIAN GORE

FOUNDER, DISCOVERY

One of these cognitive errors is a failure to recognise the impact that outliers have in our increasingly interconnected world. Take for instance, the decision to create the Vitality programme. It is one outlier decision that had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on our entire business. A few...

COL (RET) STU BRADIN

COL (RET) STU BRADIN

GLOBAL SOF FOUNDATION

As I approached my retirement from U.S. Special Operations Command in 2014, I decided to keep serving my nation and the wider Special Operations community through the formation of a new professional SOF association – the Global SOF Foundation (GSF). Since 9/11 U.S. special operations forces (SOF) had over doubled...

CHARLES RADCLYFFE

PARTNER, ETHICS GRADE

“WE ARE CONCERNED FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WILL LOSE JOBS AS A RESULT OF AUTOMATION”.– CHARLES RADCLYFFE, PARTNER We are worried. Some of the things we worry about are the same as everyone else who is trying to imagine the impact of technology on our lives. We worry about how...

Max Tuchman

Max Tuchman

Co-Founder & CEO - Caribu

If it’s a smooth road, it’s not worth traveling. I believe you only truly learn by making mistakes, stumbling, and having your experiments turn out differently than you expected (I don’t see those as failures). When we met, my co-founder just happened to be living in Miami, too. Since the...

Alex Van Breedam

Alex Van Breedam

CEO, TRI-VIZOR

Logistics is facing important sustainability and capacity problems. The changing buying behaviour of the consumer, predominantly accelerated by the steep growth of e-commerce, is leading to increasingly smaller, but more frequent and ever faster deliveries. This fragmentation of deliveries is heavily boosting the need for transport capacity, while the shorter...

JAMES CROWE

FOUNDER, VANDERBILT VACCINE CENTER

I am a physician and a scientist, and I study the human immune system. When I was a senior medical student training to be a physician, I worked for several months as a pediatrician in a rural hospital in East Africa. The work was challenging to me, because of the...

INNOVATE® Ecosystems