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The Innovation Luminary Awards Ceremony is the centrepiece of the prestigious Open Innovation 2.0 Conference, an internationally recognised gathering of world class innovation experts where the future of innovation in the EU and beyond is forged. This year’s conference will see the Espoo Innovation Garden in Finland play host to talks covering e-Government, Smart Cities, e-Learning, Entrepreneurship and Startups, whilst the strong focus on interaction between attendees lends to the ideas being addressed evolving and progressing well past the end of the conference.
The Conference will host approximately 350 participants and global innovation leaders from Sunday, June 7 until Tuesday, June 9.
Established by the EU Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISPG), the Innovation Luminary Academy awards innovation thought leaders on an annual basis, both to recognise outstanding contributions to the field of innovation and to inspire the next generation of innovation experts to act. The Academy was conceived in partnership with the Innovation Value and has received both support and sponsorship from Intel Labs Europe, European Commission's DG CONNECT and Dublin City Council.
The recipients of this year’s awards will be enrolled into the Innovation Luminary Academy, and will be jointly responsible with existing Academy members for selecting future Innovation Luminaries. Prof. Martin Curley, OISPG Chairman and Intel Labs Europe Vice President explains that “These awards and the Academy into which these recipients enter will be an inspiration for all who are improving an ever changing world by being creative and innovative.” ''The Conference with the Award Ceremony should be seen as an action oriented process combining thought leaders, concepts and best practises into a functioning European Innovation Ecosystem'', adds Bror Salmelin, Adviser for Innovation Systems at DG CONNECT .
Previous Luminary Awards have acknowledged a wide cross-section of achievements, from the contributions made to the understanding of Open Innovation by Henry Chesbrough to the work of innovation catalyst Veli-Pekka Niitamo, and Sir Richard Branson’s award for serial entrepreneurship. Other past recipients include Professor Stephen Hawking, Felix Baumgartner and Alexander Osterwalder.
Henry Chesbrough, innovation expert and author of “New Frontiers in Innovation” and the driving force behind the Napa Valley Open Innovation Conference in the USA, points out that “while the Luminary Award I received is for recognition of work that’s already done, there’s still so much more to do.” Sir Richard Branson, recipient of his award for serial entrepreneurship in 2013, embraces the challenge of driving innovation forward. “Entrepreneurs get out there and try to create a positive difference in people’s lives, and have a lot of fun doing so,” he said during his televised acceptance speech, whilst urging others to follow his example. “It’s been a great journey being an entrepreneur, and I hope that people who want to become entrepreneurs but haven't done so yet will take their first steps, and join in the fun,” he continued.
Registration for the Conference and the Innovation Luminary Awards gala is open until June 3. Attendance is free of charge, places to the Luminary Awards gala dinner are however limited to 150 people.
The conference agenda and a list of already confirmed speakers can be found here.
Luminary Awards Ceremony Agenda (197 Kb)
