During their national events in the past year, the GUBERNA Alumni have been proposing a deep reflection on how the changes imposed by the contemporary environmental and societal challenges are reflected on entrepreneurship and governance practice. Hence, in order to push the discussion one notch further, it seems logical to focus this year’s Alumni Day on innovation.
Described by economist Joseph Schumpeter as one of the key factors contributing to economic change, innovation is embedded into the entrepreneurial DNA: it poses challenges to the whole sector or economic environment and creates new business opportunities, allowing companies to differentiate from competitors. At more technological companies, innovation can even shape the business model with a significant impact on the governance and on the role played by the board. Above and foremost, innovation should be a factor of (sustainable) growth.
Programme Alumni Day
17h30 Welcome drink
18h00 Welcome speech by Mr Jo BENOIT, Chairman of the Alumni Council
18h15 Keynote speech by Bruno WATTENBERGH, Chairman of the EY Belgium Innovation Board and Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship at Solvay Business School (TBC)
18h45 Panel debate with:
- Moderator Prof. John METSELAAR, Prof, professor Innovation, Solvay Business School
- Mr. Christophe BARONHEID, Founder and CEO at BRAINHOOD SRL, Vice President at BeerFac
- Mrs. Agnes FLÉMAL, General Manager at WSL
- Mr. Henri JACOBS, Futurist, Public speaker, Chairman at Techventures, Director at Forcit
- Mrs. Pascale VAN DAMME, Vice President EMEA VMware & boomi at Dell Technologies
20h00 Walking dinner
22h00 End of the event
Venue:
Le Grand Salon, Herman Teirlinckplein 4, 1650 Beersel
NB: physical participation is limited to 50 people as long as phase 4 of de-confinement (as defined by the Belgian Federal government) is in place. The possibility to attend remotely will be offered, provided that this option is sufficiently well received during the early-bird period (see pricing options).