Leading the conversation on green and digital change at IASP Seville

At the 39th IASP World Conference #IASPseville, our main theme will be “Green and digital change powered by innovation: The role of innovation ecosystems”, where we'll be putting the work of STPs and AOIs in the spotlight on the world stage!

Speakers and experts from around the world will be exploring the leading role that innovation ecosystems can play in consolidating global efforts to combat the greatest threats facing the world today, such as climate change.

Science parks and areas of innovation are spaces where new thinking builds solutions to solve current challenges. With climate change, there are an abundance of challenges to meet, and digital technologies play a central role in the energy systems of the future, as well as in the development of data-driven climate solutions, monitoring systems, models for behavioural change and much more, helping us move towards a carbon neutral future. Read on for a thematic overview of the plenary sessions...

The digital economy and sustainable infrastructure

IASP Seville’s opening keynote speaker, Telefónica’s Sergio Oslé, will get right to the heart of the new digital economy, before we segue into STPs and AOIs at the cutting edge of sustainability in the first plenary session. Speakers from High Tech Campus Eindhoven in the Netherlands, McMaster Innovation Park in Canada and the GWC Science Park aboard the International Space Station will explore how innovation and infrastructure combined have helped them lead the way towards a sustainable future.

Strategies for carbon zero and jobs for the future

We’ll take a look at the tools and strategies innovation ecosystems are using to reach carbon zero in their cities and regions, with Rafael Sanchez from Endesa joining us to present our host city’s eCitySevilla project, and Alfonso Vegara of Fundacion Metropoli exploring cities as innovation ecosystems. We'll also get the legal perspective on the value of analysing patent and trademark databases, and a Swedish case study of driving cross-sector collaboration. Then it’s on to future-proof jobs, and how STPs and AOIs can help their communities to develop the skills they need to navigate a digital world, with examples from Here East in London, UK, Porto Digital in Brazil, Linköping Science Park in Sweden, and across China and the ASEAN region.

Green companies for a sustainable future

A greener society needs greener companies, and IASP Seville will examine the specialised incubators and innovative accelerator programmes at Berlin Adlershof (Germany) and The Innovation Hub (South Africa) that promote the creation and consolidation of greener and more sustainable startups, explore the European ScaleUp Champions project to accelerate deep tech startups, and learn more about the Swedish model of startup-corporate collaboration from Ignite Sweden.

Digitalisation for companies, cities and regions 

STPs and AOIs also play a key role supporting increased digitalisation in their companies, promoting constant digital improvement of both their resident companies and their cities and regions. We’ll hear more about AI as the next step of digitalisation from Tehnopol in Estonia and AI labs at Heidelberg Technology Park in Germany, building digital capacity at Konza Technopolis (Kenya) and take a deep dive into the social value of digitalisation with an example of using it to reduce energy poverty from UC3M Science Park from Madrid, Spain.

To conclude the scientific programme, two former IASP Presidents and our current Vice President will take to the stage as the conference comes to a close to share their perspectives on the key themes from the event – even if you miss one of the sessions, don’t miss this essential reflection on their personal takeaways!

Have a look at the full programme here for an overview of all the sessions.