THE ALTERNATE FUTURE SUMMIT

Elviramishra

INTRODUCTION

GetBoarded conducted a week-long summit around emerging technologies and shifts for the future.

The Alternate Future summit is an initiative designed to encourage a conversation between the corporate world, the education world, and the other ecosystems which includes start-up communities, technologists, and government representatives to unite and define the future as they see it. This conference aims to collaboratively find sustainable solutions that help large scale recovery to define a better and more hopeful post-pandemic world.

The conference is segmented into speaker sessions as follows:

- CORPORATE THOUGHT LEADERS

- EDUCATION VISIONARIES

- ECOSYSTEM BUILDERS

CORPORATE THOUGHT LEADERS

In the last couple of months, we have experienced change unlike ever before. Due to the impact of COVID-19 in the workplace, much has changed in the world of technology and much has changed in the world of HR. The role of the HR professional is now in the spotlight. HR’s evolution will continue as current business issues place HR at center stage (e.g. the acceleration of the digital information age, enduring business continuity during crises). Consequently, organizations’ working models need to continually upgrade to respond.

We have invited the corporate leadership team at PeopleTree Group to shed light on the way they see big organizations moving to address the new remote work challenges and the role data plays here.

Learning and development has been reshaping itself, with industry re-skilling and upskilling on the one hand, and a rise in new experimentation in preparing talent from a University perspective on the other. Leaders from Dynargie speak about how much Covid is impacting and above all how it will impact the way we grow and develop our soft skills in the future. Is the remote way of learning a trend or will it “only” be a new way to add to present pedagogical solutions? What are the dangers of believing that the “remote way” will be “the” way?

Technology landscapes were already changing at a fast pace before Covid-19 and digital transformation was almost forced upon us with the rise of the pandemic. This brings us to a discussion on the role technology will play and the biggest game changers like Block-chain, Quantum Computing. and AI. Oftentimes our tasks consume many resources including time, money, and effort. What if we could delegate these tasks to somebody instead and focus our attention on more creative things? What if a machine could do these tasks? The answer is artificial intelligence. We don’t know the future — we know future is in AI.

The other boiling issues we saw emerge were about the black-lives movement which originated in the US but shook the entire world. We will contemplate how the world is evolving in order to address diversity and inclusion within global virtual environments.

In the current global situation, which is filled with many uncertainties and is in a constant state of flux, how can organizations future proof their leadership? Brett’s session will discuss how to apply the concept of future proofing in order to develop leadership talent within organizations. This will establish a base for the panel discussion led by Caitlin with the ecosystem builders on changing landscapes and careers.

The session breaks with final thoughts on Corporate Social Responsibilities of organizations. Under this context, the presentation sets to investigate how strategic CSR (SCSR) affects organizational performance, especially during recessionary periods, and whether firms operating in “controversial” sectors should adopt SCSR activities.

Education Visionaries

We take the handover from the Corporate Leaders with an academic perspective on drivers for smart innovation leadership in disrupted times. Nataliia and Dmitri address the issue that, despite years of technological progress, universities are still facing problems of inefficiency, mistrust, and disconnect from the private sector and the demand for future-proof skills. Dmitri will share some thought-provoking perspectives on new roles and business opportunities addressing these issues. He also poses the question: what does the private sector need from universities?

The integration of technology into teaching and learning is one of the main trends taking root in higher education institutions around the world. There are many reasons why technology is coming and will continue to grow its presence within classrooms across schools and universities.

In response to Joao’s session on learning needs, Ekaterina sheds light upon the role of a teacher in adopting technology in education.

To ensure successful integration of technology, including the scalability and sustainability of its use, the outcome of technologically-enhanced learning must be evaluated and take into account the human factor. For example, the teacher’s understanding of the dynamics of higher education and society at large, his or her competence, knowledge, teaching style and professional development are all important parameters.

The recognition of the role of the human factor in integrating technology in teaching can enable higher education institutions to smoothly ‘manage’ all other factors, including course design, teaching methods, and various course activities etc.

Next, Renata, a generalist with many specialties, brings us to specific collaboration tools that inspire distance learning participants and adaptation from the stressful transition of distance learning to distance pedagogy and online tools.

Andrea touches on the topic of distance learning in complex contexts. And Luca Agostino shares with us the improvements and consequences of distance education experiences during lockdown. Despite a very heterogeneous landscape of school policies all over the world, this talk aims to identify some priorities that can address common questions about learning inspired by the actual pandemic context.

The session on ecosystem builders concludes with a talk from Ioanna on networked learning & innovation. Here, Ioanna addresses questions like how adopting a collaborative inquiry, learning, and innovation mindset can help propel us into a regenerative, borderless, and equitable future? Can re-framing be a key to de-risking change and sculpting new pathways for systemic transformation? What if the spaces in between our society’s silos are full of hidden opportunity?

ECOSYSTEM BUILDERS

It can seem daunting to adapt to new challenges, especially if you have a training background that appears overly specific. Caitlin shares her experiences as a dancer and artist, who has transitioned to working in the business and tech arenas, in addition to offering some general information on how to adapt your specific skills within a new domain. Caitlin spearheads a panel comprising PhD researcher Nicholas, who is a manager at EU commissions EUvsVirus community, 70-year-old tech entrepreneur and social community builder Michael Broadie from Ournet, and Laura and Cristian from Business Ecosystems. The session considers ideas and views from all aspects of community types, i.e. government backed, social, non-profit, and business communities on how the structure of social interactions is evolving or must evolve for future.

The session continues with Otito who discusses the trends in VCs and startup ecosystem to see where and how the money and innovations are flowing. The session ends with a final topic expansion by Gabriella Marcelja, who expands the geographical scale to the EU while addressing the future of impact innovation in Europe.

What’s in it for you, you ask?

You’re in luck. If you are an organization, we have a great lineup for you:

* Interesting sessions from industry thought leaders with insights and data around how to plan for future changes

* Tool showcases will also be suitable for you if you wish to pilot some innovative product offerings within your companies and universities

Students, gear up and go global!

* Participate in the hackathon and showcase your project to a global audience. We are also offering a coveted freebie — one free portfolio session with our career coach during the summit!

Start-ups, we haven’t forgotten you either!

* Showcase solutions to representatives from the EU Commission EUvsVirus community leaders

* Gain visibility — reach out to a corporate and university audience to offer pilots