Sustainability, resilience, collaboration and innovation will be key to transform the future of the economy

Submitted by Serena Rebollo… on 24 November 2020

  • The Clúster de l'Energia Eficient de Catalunya (CEEC), the Foodservice Cluster, the Cluster of the Catalan wine sector INNOVI and the Packaging Cluster have organized this Thursday the first  of the Strategic Dive 2020, with which a disruptive space has been created with live presentations and where more than a hundred B2B meetings have taken place between the participating professionals.
  • Tomorrow, November 20, the second session of the Strategic Dive 2020 will take place.

The first session of the Strategic Dive 2020, a virtual intercluster meeting, held this Thursday telematically, concluded that to transform the future of the economy, taking into account the current framework marked by the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic , it will be necessary to keep in mind sustainability, resilience, collaboration and innovation. The Mayor of Granollers, Josep Mayoral, during his welcome agreed on this idea: “All united we will transform the future with collaboration, knowledge and joint work. Today's session is a good example of this exchange of synergies between very different sectors ”.

The event began with the intervention of the presidents of the four driving clusters of the Strategic Dive 2020, the Clúster de l’Energia Eficient de Catalunya (CEEC), the Foodservice Cluster, the Cluster of the Catalan wine sector INNOVI and the Packaging Cluster.

In a first intervention, Artur Costa, President of the Packaging Cluster, reflected on the importance that the cluster ecosystem currently has in inter-company relationships, but warned that “from now on we must work on B2C relationships, with the aim of achieving the customer at the center”. For his part, Álvaro Bailo, President of the INNOVI Catalan Wine Sector Cluster, showed his interest in ensuring that “the Strategic Dive is a good tool to inspire attendees as well as to extract new business opportunities.” Raimon Bagó, President of the Foodservice Cluster, put on the table the need for "a cluster to adapt at all times to the needs of its members and that allows it to be at the forefront of trends that are emerging in its market." Finally, Esther Izquierdo, President of the Clúster de l'Energia Eficient de Catalunya (CEEC), pointed out that it is important to work together between the different sectors present at this conference, “since creating links between the four sectors will make the members of each cluster become stronger and that they may have more business opportunities”.

The first presentation was given by Jaume Giró, President & Chief Executive Officer of Giró Consultants, who reflected on the most important changes in recent history and their impacts on our way of life and on the welfare society that we have achieved. "Among the keys to this society in transformation, we have to prioritize how to solve the health crisis as well as the economic one with positivity, justice, democracy, education and proven information."

Them, Emili Rousaud, Founder of Factor Energia, defended that sustainability has to be a fundamental point within the business strategy and made an analysis of the energy horizon: “We have to be very aware of how to use our own resources to manage energy consumption, with new available technologies and with the minimum environmental impact. Currently, we have the opportunity to reindustrialize, we can have the cheapest energy in Europe, since Spain has an important photovoltaic and wind potential due to its privileged geographical position”.

Next, Santi Aliaga, Controller of the Vall Companys Group and CEO of Zyrcular Foods, stated that “there are three sustainable challenges: creating alternative proteins, improving production methods and promoting the change of people's habits.” He also added that to achieve this we have to collaborate, work on innovation, be close to the start-up ecosystem and be proactive with respect to changes.

For her part, Joana Barbany, General Director of Societat Digital de la Generalitat de Catalunya, defended the need to work on the empowerment of women in the technology sector, “it is necessary that we fight daily against the digital divide, since although there are more Women who study, who finish their studies and who obtain higher qualifications than men, the female sector is undervalued. We have a sample in senior positions, where only 7.9% of women occupy executive positions within the ICT sector”.

The day concluded with the round table "What strategies do we have to follow once the pandemic is over", in which Cristina Alonso, Area Merchandising Manager, explained that "clusters have a 360º vision and are the first to detect opportunities, that helps to carry out business strategies and policies for its members. They have the ability to connect large, medium or small companies". Maria-José Cristòfol, Marketing Director of the Europe Gourmet Division WE, stated that "in a time of crisis you cannot be inefficient, the situation is now critical for the foodservice sector, you have to define priorities and reflect on what you contribute to the value chain".

According to Manel Xifra, Executive President of Comexi, "teleworking in a hybrid format has come to stay. In the same way that this remote support will do, with virtual meetings. We will be more efficient in this regard.Eva Plazas, Technical Director of Cavas Vilarnau, showed the need that “we have to think globally in what has to do with the product, that is, that its packaging and its label are sustainable and that it is also a local product." Finally, Meritxell Arús, Director of Marketing and Communication of Schneider Electric showed the need that "the aid that is received by the governments is destined to develop projects destined to the sustainability."

The closing was given by Mr. Ramon Tremosa, Conseller d'Empresa i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya, who put on the table that "clusters allow us to observe new business opportunities, work collaboratively, do networking and help to get out of the current crisis ”.

In the seminars that were held this Thursday, more than a hundred B2B meetings have taken place between the participating professionals, through which experiences, new business opportunities and strategies have been shared to be at the forefront of the industry.

Tomorrow, November 20, different presentations will take place in parallel, focused on different sectors involved, with profiles such as DammDanoneCoca-ColaCasa Ametller or EIT InnoEnergy.

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