Social Innovation Summit

Besides supporting innovation events and activities, innovation as a nonlinear management process needs to be a disciplined approach to transforming novel ideas, and discovering and developing opportunities for creating multifaceted value.

In the mid-morning, I arrived in the large metropolitan city of Chicago. Long time no see, Chicago!

The last time I came here, it was wintertime, the Windy City was a bit chilly but looked great.

This time, I visited here in early Summer, it was a beautiful sunny day, warm but not too hot, and the streets looked broad and tidy. Although Chicago has very advanced public transportation systems, I decided to walk around, heading to the city center to participate in the “Social Innovation Summit” conference. Skyscrapers are scattered on the different streets, creating a great view of a modern city. I passed through some large architectural buildings and sculptures, arriving at the hotel where the event was held. 

The staff was very friendly on-site, after registering and printing out the badge, I entered the grand ballroom, the female musician was playing the violin, and the music called the Symphony of Inclusive Impact” was beautiful, delighting our spirit; hundreds of audience seemed to be cheerful, enjoying her performance. There was a series of presentations in the morning, conveying the core messages of value generation, equity, talent development, AI, and technology application. The Presentations include:

• LEADING WITH VALUES 

• ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH INNOVATION 

• DREAMING BIG AND BREAKING BARRIERS

• UPLIFTING COMMUNITIES: THE POWER OF SPORT

• DIVERSIFYING THE FUTURE AI WORKFORCE 

...

During the break, I chatted with a couple of folks while we had lunch together, they all came from different cities and states, from East to West, North to South, such as Seattle, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Palo Alto, etc. They work in different industries such as education, retailers, banks, healthcare, hospitality, etc. It seems that all participants have a common goal - to keep ourselves learning agile, inclusive, and innovative, grow our talent, and contribute to the success of our organizations and industries.

In the afternoon sessions, there were a few more presentations and panel discussions about equal opportunity, healthcare, education, public transportation, etc. The presentations include:

• INNOVATING TO DEFEND CHILDREN IN THE DIGITAL AGE

• DRIVING AHEAD: A MORE EQUITABLE & ACCESSIBLE FUTURE

• HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY & AI FOR GOOD

• BREAKING BARRIERS & GOING FURTHER...

In the break-out session, I went to the “Intergenerational economics and workforce” discussion. The topic was very relevant in today’s global economy with a multigenerational, multicultural, and multi-devising workforce. The panelists focused on education, equity, and diversity. The discussion also emphasized how social technology tools and AI impact our more diversified and dynamic workforce.

From my perspective, with emerging deep analysis, we should focus on how to unleash human potential by helping people grow and putting them in the right positions to solve the right problems at the right time. At the different stages of professional growth, people can find enough resources and support, and use their talents to make accomplishments. I checked the event agenda, and the other few breakout sessions discussed how to use technology to harness communication, education, and innovation, as well as how to improve the sustainability of global society.

There were also a lot of things going on on the second day. The conference started discussing how to enforce collaboration and maximize value and social impact. The senior management teams in McDonald's and other organizations with their headquarters in Chicago came to share their knowledge and efforts on fostering social innovation and increasing social value. The presentations include:

• CREATING REAL ECONOMIC DESTINY

• COLLABORATION TO MAXIMIZE IMPACT: ALIGNING OUR MISSION INTERNALLY & EXTERNALLY

• INTERSECTIONAL IMPACT: WHERE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC EQUITY MEET

• TRAINING FOR A LIFETIME

...

In the morning breakout session, I went to the visionary workshop session called “New Literacy to Design for the Future.” The workshop started with an interesting question: “If the future is a time when many and most things in your life will be different than they are today, how long from now does the future start?” At the beginning of the workshop, we were all global strangers, after chatting and discussing, we knew each other a bit and shared knowledge and experience. That is social innovation. The facilitators provided us with some worksheets and clues for discussion. At each table, we did some exercises of envisioning the future of work and society. I checked the meeting agenda, the main topics of other breakout discussions also focused on workforce training and development, using technology to build inclusive communities, etc.

For the following couple of sessions in mid-morning and afternoon, the presenters share their experiences on innovating different industries, driving changes, and generating more value for our society. The presentations include:

• BREAKING BOUNDARIES: 3 KEYS TO ACCELERATE SOCIAL CHANGE

• FROM CAPITAL TO CONTENT: POWERING NARRATIVE CHANGE INDIGENOUS HERITAGE

•  LOOKING TO THE FUTURE BY LEARNING FROM OUR PAST

• THE VALUE OF VALUES

• INNOVATE… IDEATE… IMPROVE… IMPROVE! ...

It’s a great conference, we all learn something from it. But how can we truly realize the vision and value we brainstormed in a structured way? The core messages of the Social Innovation Summit based on my understanding include:

• The vision for the future society
• The value-added cross-boundary collaboration
• Advocacy for equal opportunity
• Empathy for intergenerational workforce development
• Social technology and AI for Innovation.

Besides supporting innovation events and activities, innovation as a nonlinear management process needs to be a disciplined approach to transforming novel ideas, discovering and developing opportunities for creating new meaningful sources of value to various customers, and bringing sustainable business benefit and social value coherently.

Posted in: Business Intelligence,Global Perspective,Global Trips,Innovation