Accelerate 2017 to focus on navigating disruption with a design thinking mindset

Certus Solutions has been announced today as a platinum sponsor of the Accelerate 2017 series of events across Australia and New Zealand. The event series will feature leading innovation experts, who have helped organisations learn the secrets to embracing innovation from the inside out, so they can disrupt their own industries using design thinking. 

Keynote speakers announced for the Executive Breakfast Briefing to be held in four cities: Wellington, Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney in June, include: 

• David Gram, Former Senior Innovation Director at LEGO’s Future Lab, which is credited for driving the 85-year-old company’s innovation agenda and saving the brand from possible extinction, he will reveal how LEGO is innovating from its core to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow, along with his experiences at Scandinavian Airlines and Siemens. 

• Dr James Slezak, ex COO of New York Times Global Edition, who led the digital transformation of the re-imagined international publication, creating unprecedented opportunities to connect with the 80 million people around the world who read it. 

• A taste of Artificial Intelligence with Chef Watson. Master Chef judge and TV personality, Simon Gault has worked with IBM’s cognitive computing Chef Watson to create the event’s deliciously creative menu. 

Accelerate 2017 will feature three separate co-located events on the one day, each designed to address specific areas of business disruption: 

1. The Executive Breakfast Briefing is from 8.00 - 10.30, incorporating a cognitive breakfast and featuring keynote speakers talking about disruption and innovation in their specific industries, including David Gram from LEGO and a panel discussion, hosted by Dr James Slezak from New York Times. 

2. A Lunch and Learn - focused on new market and product development in the face of digital disruption from 11am - 4pm. Featuring Dr James Slezak sharing his insights on how New York Times is navigating digital disruption and the way personalisation is changing the brand experience. The other speakers will explain design thinking and how introducing this approach can enable organisations to transform everyday user experiences and reinvent traditional business models in response to digital disruption. 

3. The Lunch and Learn - focused on process and systems design also from 11am- 4pm. Featuring Astronaut Mike Mullane - three-times Space Shuttle Mission Specialist - in a video interview on balancing risk against mission success. The other speakers will discuss how we can apply lessons from the space programme to building better systems and process as well as take advantage of the Internet of Things.

“Regardless of their industry or role, attendees will get to not just hear about, but experience new technologies such as AI, as well as experience how Design Thinking can shift the digital dial. Industry 4.0 or the forces driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution are transforming each and every industry. How we apply a design-led approach to innovation is key to unlocking the ‘possible’ in the new industry landscape of Industry 4.0” said Samuel Williams, Marketing Director, Certus Solutions and Speaker at Accelerate 2017.

The events happen in Wellington (Tuesday 13 June 2017), Auckland (Thursday 15 June 2017), Melbourne (Tuesday 20 June 2017) and Sydney (Thursday 22 June 2017).