Become smart, rethink the existing!

This morning a group of forerunners turned Aarhus City Hall into an open forum about business and technology. With the Mayor of Aarhus Jacob Bundsgaard as a host for the week, the opening session engaged the audience and offered interesting take-aways.

“Today there is no line of business that is not affected by the Internet”, said Jacob Bundsgaard insisting on its capability to provide growth for Denmark. Meanwhile being live streamed to Horsens, Silkeborg and Randers, the Aarhus Mayor described the festival as a place for debating challenges and learning about new and innovative ideas that create the basis for growth and development of the economy for all.

The Big Shift

For John Seely Brown, Chairman of Deloitte’s Center of the Edge, we live in a world where we can do anything we can imagine. That is the big shift that we have all experienced by the developments in technology.

“Internet Week Denmark is an opportunity to learn and unlearn new ideas”, said John Seely Brown while characterizing Denmark as occupying an enviable place in the history of technology and the internet.

On the way of getting smarter while creating new business possibilities, he stressed that is vital to be willing to change the conceptual lenses. Close to the end of his presentation, he made a call to rethink the way we can improve society: “what the world needs today is more entrepreneurial learners”.

The future of business models

“Things will never go this slow again”, opened Martin Deinoff, the Vice President of Creuna. His presentation focused on one central question: what is the business model of the future?

In a scenario where technology rapidly changes the rules of the game, Martin Deinoff proposed that the smartest business will be the ones that can win on three areas. First, owning less. This means that physical ownership will become digital where possible. Second, companies will need to embrace more, meaning offering a complete service on an area. “This can be done by a specific product or service that meet a broader set of goals or needs”, explained Martin. Finally, companies will need to present their customers with perfect choices. In a system that offers more options than ever, using only the personal consumer data will allow companies to provide their customers with perfect solutions to their demands.

For him this three ways of rethinking business, will make any endeavour smarter in the digital era.

Filling in the empty seats – please share!

For April Rinne, sharing economy has the power to transform almost everything. That is what the global leader from the World Economic Forum and the Sharing Economy Working Group, came to tell us at Internet Week Denmark 2015.

“An average car is not used for 23 hours a day”, said April to introduce the so-popular sharing economy. For her, the process is all about re-using, decentralising and trusting.

“I’m talking about a new connectivity, this means that soon 90% of the population over 6 years old will have a mobile phone”, emphasized April. This virtual access has an immediate power. It allow us to use space in new ways. “It is not about having new ideas, but rather rethinking the existing”, she described.

The new opportunities that the new sharing endeavours offers, enables social benefits and high levels of user participation. For April Rinne, sharing economy is also about making skills available to new markets. In this way, “it takes out the intermediator of the picture, allowing the user to get new skills or provide them to others”, she highlighted meanwhile stressing that constitutes the basis for sustainable innovation in the cities.

These are the keys to become a smart and sharing city anywhere in the world.

See the highlights from the opening

This article was written based on the event: Official Opening