The Responsible Innovation Summit will bring together academics, entrepreneurs and policy makers to debate, educate and inform on how Ireland is positioned to address new trends around responsible innovation and investments.
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Speaking of the Awards, Szilvia Szabo, co-founder of the Responsible Innovation Summit says, "This is about innovative ideas that fulfill the criteria of having good business opportunities with an innovative solution, while generating a positive impact in terms of environmental, social and governance factors. It's very much a growing interest for investors. This is not about saving the world in a way, but it's much more about being aware of how these factors are influencing your business performance – either mitigating risk or spot market opportunity".
Expert judges will look for the identification of business opportunity and the creation of innovative solutions that align with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors related to business performance.
The finalists of the Business Spirit Awards will have access to financial planning advice, incubation space, business plan development, professional pitch preparation and unique leadership programmes. Winners of both award categories will also receive a monetary prize.
Speaking of the award, Mary MacSweeney, deputy head of Enterprise and Economic Development in Dublin City Council says, "We recognise the need to promote innovative business practices that are good for the consumer, business owner and the planet. The Business Spirit Award will highlight some of the ways that local businesses are adapting to consumer trends for more ethical and value-driven products".
Adding to this, Conor Carmody, investment consultant, Dublin Business Innovation Centre says, "With the evolution of new technologies and the impact on business and society, responsible funding and value-driven customers' expectations are fundamental in influencing the next generation of business strategies."
“Looking for positive impact is not only a nice thing to do, but drives strong business performance. Creating socially desirable and environmentally sustainable products/services is becoming mainstream. Business leaders need to be ready for these changes and we want to acknowledge this at the Responsible Innovation Summit,” Szabó added.
Aside from the Awards, which are set to be a highlight of the summit, value-driven entrepreneurship will be at the heart of the conference, and key topics will relate to responsible investment and what that means, why it is a growing trend and how it can influence businesses in the very near future.
There will be a European researcher knowledge exchange forum bringing together projects from all over Europe who are working on Responsible Research and Innovation projects funded by the EU.
Technological innovations, or ‘disruption for good’, will also be covered extensively at the summit.
Szabo says the economic engine is beginning to look to millennials for the next few decades of growth, which means addressing the values that millennials bring to the table.
“This new interest, as well as leadership roles in companies, has changed business models considerably. They don’t just want good products and services; they are looking for their purchases to align with their values as an expression of their beliefs. According to the recent Edelman Trust Index report, 50 per cent of belief-driven customers choose, avoid or boycott a brand based on its stance on societal issues.
“Similarly, millennial investors are seeking investments that support their principles, ideals and have a positive influence on the world, therefore the new approach for them is making profit with purpose.” Millennials are more than twice as likely to be interested in investments dedicated to solving social and environmental problems (MSCI, ESG investments)
“Societies all over the world are on the verge of major changes. In the not too distant future we will have life-lengthening healthcare technologies, appliances that communicate with one another, self-driving vehicles and blockchain technology, to name a few. We are already experiencing the beginning of how some of these technologies will change the way we live our lives.”
Our goal is to introduce responsible innovation as an adaptable business concept and bring together leaders from various sectors
The main messages to be taken from the summit are how to create profit with purpose, including issues like growing trends towards responsible investment and how it's influencing funding strategies. Disruption for good - how to use data-driven innovations to create shared values, will also be examined, as well as business opportunities related to the circular economy. This is just a taster of the many ideas to be discussed on the day.
“Our goal is to introduce responsible innovation as an adaptable business concept and bring together leaders from various sectors - business, innovation, research, policy makers - to discuss future-shaping ideas in the light of how to generate positive impact through innovation. New factors are shaping the economy like climate change, depletion of natural resources, ethical issues related to technological innovations such as machine learning, AI and blockchain, which results in changes of business strategies. Our mission is to encourage and inspire leaders to look for profitable solutions with positive impact and create products/services which are socially desirable and environmentally sustainable while competitive at the same time,” she says.