Our very own SVP of Global Solutions, Michael Stilger, was in Barcelona last month at the 10th annual edition of “Innovation Excellence“. Read on as he shares his impressions from this event!
As a Co-founder of Qmarkets and a man who has always had a passion for both travelling and networking, I enjoy attending many conferences and summits across the globe every year. These events offer me the opportunity to share my insights on innovation and idea management, while also learning from the experiences shared by other speakers and thought-leaders from different industries, cultures, and geographies.
However for me, the most important measurement of a successful event is the fascinating people I meet, and at the annual Innovation Excellence Summit in Barcelona this asset is in no short supply. As the chairman of this event last year, I relished the opportunity to work closely with such an experienced group of senior professionals. So when I was asked to return as a chairman for the 2016 summit it did not take me long to say yes, and upon arrival I was pleased to discover that the quality of the discussion, attendees, and location was as high as I had expected. It also helped that the venue for this event was once again the magnificent Hotel Avenida Palace in central Barcelona.
With speakers from Google, Nokia, Kimberly Clark, Michelin, Orange, and Telefonica, a wealth of expertise was shared from a wide variety of different perspectives and schools of thought, leaving all attendees with actionable ideas for them to take back to their respective companies.
For me personally it was interesting to see the continued popularity of integrating the concepts of venture scouting and big data with innovation, especially as these are both use-cases which we’ve been facilitating using the Qmarkets platform for some time now.
A personal favorite of mine was the session held by Johan Verbeeck, Head of External Partnering Strategy at Johnson & Johnson, who showed why J&J remain the largest and most innovative healthcare company in the world. Johan was also selected for the position of chairman on the second day of the event, a role which he was a perfect fit for.
To summarize, innovation excellence Barcelona 2016 was once again a highly successful, innovative, and informative event, which left me feeling enriched, not just by the people I met, but also by the knowledge they shared and the discoveries we made together. See you next year!
Take a look at our “events” page to discover when the Qmarkets team will be attending an event near you!
