Investor in Smart City Technologies at Plug and Play, Belgium
Architect and Urban Thinker passionate about the concept of Smart Inclusive Cities and the rethinking of Urban Systems. As a LEED Accredited Professional, understanding what sustainability and innovation means in the Built Environment have been my priority for the past decade. Accordingly, after starting my career in Design and Construction, I have decided to apprehend the other end of the chain, Real Estate, to finally Smart Cities Innovation.
Previously, I was awarded the First Prize of the Smart Cities Expo World Congress 2018 – 5G Use Case Competition and co-founded the IE Business School Smart Cities Club.
I am currently leading the Global Startup Relations and Investments in the fields of Real Estate & Construction Technology at Plug and Play, the most active open innovation platform globally. We support industry leaders in the Built Environment with their internal Corporate Innovation, to redefine how we build, manage and understand our cities.
Session: Open Innovation & Entrepreneurship: The next chapter in City Making
The importance of Innovation and the Startup Ecosystem, in the future of our cities. Until recently, innovation had to come from inside corporations not leaving much room for young tech companies to compete. Since the last economic crisis, we have seen a boom in entrepreneurship and accordingly, corporations have started to understand that innovation through startups was a more viable and faster way to trigger and foster innovation. I would like to mention how Plug and Play became the biggest Open Innovation Platform in the world, connecting our 400 Corporate Partners with some of the best startups around the world.
For the past two decades, we have witnessed the rise of a new type of « Entrepreneurial Animal », which leverages its size to bring technological innovation to the next level. Startup products are starting to be present everywhere in our Smarter Cities.
How did Plug and Play become the biggest Open Innovation Platform globally, connecting 400 industry leaders with some of the best startups around the world, and fosters innovation to take place?
Learning outcomes:
- In this session, participants will learn about the Startup Ecosystem
- In this session, participants will understand how to engage with Innovation
- In this session, participants will learn more about the current technological trends in Smart Cities
Additional information and programme of International Conference on Smart Cities, Smart Infrastructures and Smart Buildings – here
