Inspiring Chats on Ideas for the Future

“Inspiring Chats: Ideas for the Future Open up Ways out of the Crisis!” is the title of a new online event format of the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences starting this Thursday.

The series of chats hosted within the framework of the Digital Makers Hub offers an exchange on currently relevant topics, e.g. the future of work, of the regions, of production, education and mobility.

The lectures and discussions will feature experts such as managers of leading businesses, scientists, developers, students, start-ups, investors and artists. The event will be launched on 30 April with the topic Zukunfts.FRAGEN, Zukunfts.IDEEN, Zukunfts.ENTWICKLUNG (future questions, future ideas, future development).

Broad Perspectives to Lead Us out of the Crisis

In the current coronavirus crisis, we need almost all our strength to manage the present situation and to fight for economic survival. This leaves little time for questions concerning the future. Many people are facing uncertainties – they do not know what the aftermath of the crisis will ultimately look like, which conclusions ought to be drawn, and which developments will be decisive after everything.

However, one thing is certain: a new beginning will be accomplished faster and more successfully if we adopt a positive forward-looking perspective as soon as possible, if we create lots of ideas and visions for the future, if we are reflected in meeting the present challenges, if we use the current solidarity and digital possibilities for new forms of collaboration, if we engage in an intensive exchange of experiences across the existing borders between industries, disciplines and positions, between theory and practice, and if we acquire as many new competencies as we can.

“Our ‘Inspiring Chats’ promote innovative perspectives, invite the participants to engage in an exchange of experiences and thoughts through a new online format, and open up new ways out of the crisis through ideas for the future”, says Hannes Raffaseder, Chief Research and Innovation Officer of the St. Pölten UAS.

The Inspiring Chats are hosted in cooperation with the association “N’Cyan – Innovation für Menschen” in which Austrian leading companies commit themselves to questions at the interface between regional anchoring and digital innovation.

Launch on 30 April

The first chat on 30 April from 17:00 to 18:00 is dedicated to the topic Zukunfts.FRAGEN, Zukunfts.IDEEN, Zukunfts.ENTWICKLUNG. This opening event will see renowned personalities engage in discussions: Renée Schroeder, scientist and “Leierhof” farmer, Andrea Kdolsky, former federal minister and head of the Department of Health Sciences at the St. Pölten UAS, Chris Müller, director of development, design and artistic agenda of the Tabakfabrik Linz, Günter Koch, founder of Humboldt Cosmos Multiversity and former CEO of the Austrian Research Centers, and Anna Steinacher, St. Pölten UAS graduate and managing director of branding agency DDM.

“The coronavirus crisis raises a lot of questions. Many people believe that the world will remain different after the threat lies behind us. But how and in which direction are society, science and research, business and media supposed to develop? What ideas ought to be pursued?”, Hannes Raffaseder summarises the topics of the first chat event.

Digital Makers Hub

The event series is an initiative of the Digital Makers Hub located at the St. Pölten UAS. It is a platform for digital makers, for interaction, an efficient exchange of experience, and the federal coordination of activities. The hub is subsidised by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs through the programme “Digital Innovation Hubs in Austria" and is operated by the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences together with its consortium partners Zukunftsakademie Mostviertel, Tabakfabrik Linz and In2Make Industry meets Makers GmbH.

Chat registration and further information:

https://www.digitalmakershub.at

Further dates and topics of the event series:

30/04/2020, Zukunfts.FRAGEN, Zukunfts.IDEEN, Zukunfts.ENTWICKLUNG

07/05/2020, Zukunfts.REGIONEN, Zukunfts.KOOPERATIONEN

14/05/2020, Zukunfts.PRODUKTION, Zukunfts.VERTRIEB

28/05/2020, Zukunfts.ARBEIT, Zukunfts.TECHNOLOGIEN

04/06/2020, Zukunfts.MEDIEN, Zukunfts.KOMMUNIKATION

18/06/2020, Zukunfts.WISSEN, Zukunfts.BILDUNG

25/06/2020, Zukunfts.WIRTSCHAFT, Zukunfts.GESELLSCHAFT

All chats take place from 17:00 to 18:00.