Beyond Corona - What's Next?
Three panels brought together marketers, strategists, innovators, scientists and entrepreneurs to challenge themselves and each other on the way(s) forward. The overriding conclusion across each was: things must change. The fissures and failures we have seen across our health, economies and societies in recent decades have been blown wide open by the effects of the virus and our responses to it.
Economy Panel:
Introducing the topic of economy, kraftwerk’s CEO Heimo Hammer posited that we are at the end of a globalisation cycle. He Introduced speakers Dhiraj Mukherjee, co-founder of Shazam Entertainment; Sunnie J Groeneveld, managing partner, Inspire 925; Matteo Atti, executive vice president, marketing and innovation, VistaJet; Arno Wohlfahrter, CEO of Trenkwalder Personaldienste; Igor Beuker, speaker and trendwatcher and Alicia Garcia Lopez, brand management and innovation specialist.
Society Panel:
Lucie Greene, worldwide director of Innovation Group, talked of the trends and countertrends that will shape our future world in both the short and the long term in a panel on society.“There are all these variables,” she said, “but what we’re seeing emerging will have lasting impacts. Working from home was once seen as a luxury, but will become accepted. Things are accelerating: think the wealth divide, anxiety, investing in our wellbeing and fear about the world around us.” She urged the panel of Carla Johnson, storyteller and business influencer; Cindy Gallop, founder of MakeLoveNotPorn; Heather Mills, owner of VBites Group and philanthropist; Dr Fred Koblinger, CEO of IQONIC Consulting to consider three areas – the consumer, culture and innovation – through the lens of what companies are doing to adapt to these new behaviours.
Health Panel:
Healthcare will be changed forever, too. Not just in our response to the virus but in our mental health and how we access the tools and medications we need. The panel was chaired by Dr Markus Hengstschläger, Head of the Institute of Medical Genetics at the University of Vienna, mental clinical and health psychologist Dr Doris Malisching, Dr Franz Gruber, specialist in microRNA studies and DNA profiling, entrepreneur Robin Famanfarmaian, Professor Dr Shafi Ahmed and Pete Trainor, CEO of Vala Health, a virtual private healthcare service.
Previous FFFs have highlighted the need to do things differently but as Hammer stated: “The COVID crisis is the tipping point for change.” Now, more than ever, is time to take stock and reimagine a better future world. It is time to continue challenging the status quo and questioning the values we place on every aspect of our life and planet. It’s time to fast forward, together, for the better.
After three invite-only forums, the last held virtually, we’re going online and open with this blog. It has been inspired by the need to change – and fast – following the coronavirus pandemic, which will shape our lives for years to come.