The winners of the Innovators Under 35 competition present to the European Parliament how technology can help us to deal with longer life expectancy
- The first edition of the Innovators Under 35 Summit Europe gathered young talents from Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Poland in Brussels
- The objective of this session is to demonstrate how technology can offer solutions for the challenge of the rising average age of European workers in sectors like energy, education, connectivity, infrastructure and healthcare
- Innovators Under 35 is the leading community of innovators, pioneers and agents of social change born of the recognition bestowed by MIT Technology Review
MIT Technology Review has gathered its community of Innovators Under 35 from Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Poland in the European Parliament to debate about the role of technology in tackling the challenges posed by the extended, and growing, life expectancy on the continent. The Innovators Under 35 Summit Europe served to highlight the challenges and opportunities that extended life spans may pose for the energy sector, education, connectivity, infrastructures and healthcare.
The Innovators Under 35 Summit Europe chose the theme of the region´s heightened life expectancy because between 2015 and 2060 the amount of people between 60 and 79 years will grow by an additional 1.1 billion, according to a study published by the World Bank. This growth is five times larger than the projected growth of children and adolescents, which will reach 220 million. To address these figures, the Innovators will explore how Europe will cope with an increasingly aging population.
During the session, the Innovators Under 35 were divided into five working groups which debated about the various implications that the prolonged life expectancy on the continent will have. Some questions that were raised:
- How can technology help to create a personalized and continuous educational system that spans an entire lifetime?
- How can we drive innovation to improve early diagnosis and ensure that these advances reach the patient through a sustainable healthcare system? How can we ensure sustainable growth across Europe?
- How can we engage citizens in the decision-making processes, taking full advantage of the connectivity revolution?
- How can we ensure the contribution of every member of society considering our longevity and the automatization of jobs are both constantly increasing?
Some deas proposed by the Innovators under 35 during the European Summit :
- A more open and customized education based on the concept that all people can teach and that system can be supported by new technologies and the ability to connect with anyone around the world.
- From the point of view of industry and employment, Innovators under 35 have presented "Social Miles", a system that aims to involve citizens from their youth on to contribute. .
- For community connectivity, the proposed initiative is "Second Vote", a platform that seeks to involve citizens in the process of decision-making, similar to the traditional ratings approach. “
- The debate about health improvements in order to deal longevity in Europe, Innovators under 35 considered data as the key to the advances in health prevention. They propose the creation of a European institution that will manage data of the population and distribute these in a responsible way.. Different actors can bring great advances, this however requires access to data. They believe it is essential to have the cooperation of citizensgenerally reluctant to transfer data. They are convinced: giving information saves lives.
- Finally, for the the energy sector, Innovators are committed to strengthen and leverage the work and initiatives already being undertaken in Europe. To do this, they propose an open platform providing access to innovative, private companies and society in order to promote more collaborative and efficient work.
At the European Parliament, Markku Markkula, president of the Committee of Regionssaid: “Innovation and entrepreneurship lead to growth and job creation. New companies are the most important source of new employment in the EU, creating 4 million new jobs each year.We need to work together in Europe to support young innovators, to stimulate entrepreneurship, to impliment adigital single market. In that way we canprepare the young generations for the jobs of tomorrow”.
Additionally, Isidro Laso, the Head of Startup Europe Sector, European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (EC DG-Connect), explored the commitment that institutions, companies and investors must make to investigations and business ventures in order to create synergies between sectors to improve the life of Europeans.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to gather the most brilliant minds in Europe and not only to improve the community created by MIT Technology Review, but also because we believe that the Innovators Under 35 represent the talent that Europe needs in order to face the great challenges of today", said Kathleen Kennedy, the president of MIT Technology Review.
At the end of the session, Pedro Moneo, the International Partner of MIT Technology Review and the CEO of Opinno, highlighted the importance of innovation for society´s development, and he said, "We have debated and the entire exercise revolved around innovation, technology and entrepreneurship with the objective of discovering ideas and solutions that impact the continent and the world. For this reason it is necessary and interesting to follow in detail the work of the Innovators Under 35; these young people want to change the world. Innovators Under 35 is the award bestowed by MIT Technology Review, the scientific magazine, property of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a global community formed by the young leaders of tomorrow."
Olivier Dulac, Chairman of L'Atelier and Head of External relations, BNP Paribas Group, highlight: "L'Atelier BNP Paribas is identifying disruptive innovations by an international platform based in San Francisco, Shanghai and Paris. We are proud to have supported the this first edition of the Innovators Under 35 Summit Europe. We will continue to participate in the life of this new community of European innovators, because they are already players of tomorrow, in particular in Europe."
The Innovators Under 35 Europe project
For over 15 years, the global edition of Innovators Under 35 has been selecting the greatest young talents worldwide from diverse sectors. Some of the previous winners of this prestigious award include Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin (Google) and Daniel Ek (Spotify), who are now recognized worldwide for their contributions to society. In an effort to strengthen and enrich our community, this year MIT Technology Review launched the European project in collaboration with BNP Paribas with the celebration of 6 editions in 2015.
The objective of Innovators Under 35 Europe is to engage the most outstanding talent from different sectors in Spain, France, Poland, Belgium, Italy and Germany to promote innovation across the continent.
About MIT Technology Review
MIT Technology Review, published by Technology Review Inc., an independent company property of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the world's oldest tech magazine. Founded in 1899, it is the leader within its sector and a world authority on the future of telecommunications, energy, information technology, materials, biomedicine and the internet. Its objective is to promote knowledge of emerging technologies and to analyze its commercial, political and social implications. In addition, MIT Technology Review aims to foment innovation by helping and guiding the worldwide leaders of technology (entrepreneurs, researchers and investors) and thereby contribute to the improvement of the global economy.
About Innovators Under 35
For more than a decade, MIT Technology Review recognizes, annually, the young innovators and most talented entrepreneurs of the world through its Innovators Under 35 awards. The global edition takes place in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States. The objective of these awards is to recognize innovation, the development of new technologies and the creative application of pre-existing innovations to solve current problems, and stimulate the progress in resolving global issues.
About BNP Paribas Fortis
BNP Paribas Fortis offers the Belgian market a comprehensive package of financial services for private individuals, the self-employed, professionals, SMEs and public organisations. In the insurance sector, BNP Paribas Fortis works closely with Belgian market leader AG Insurance. The bank also provides wealthy individuals, corporations and public and financial institutions with custom solutions for which it can draw on BNP Paribas’ know-how and international network.
About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas has a presence in 75 countries with more than 180,000 employees, including 140,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across Mediterranean basin countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia-Pacific.
About L’Atelier BNP Paribas
For more than 35 years, L’Atelier BNP Paribas has identified disruptive innovations that herald major changes for companies in every sector. It helps them adapt these transformations to suit the needs of their own business projects.