TEDx on Digital Leadership: Digital Transformation Means Constant Change

Under the direction of digital leadership experts Sunnie J. Groeneveld, Manuel P. Nappo and Urs Bucher, executives, lifelong learners and digital transformation experts will take part in the third TEDxHWZ. This year's TEDx will again be held in hybrid form at the HWZ with limited seating and online via livestream. With ten contributions on the theme "Enrich your mind", accomplished speakers will inspire and excite their audiences with exciting stories and groundbreaking ideas on Saturday, November 26, 2022. At this hybrid event, the audience will benefit from the numerous discussion topics as well as from the opportunity to interactively exchange ideas with participants and speakers in live digital discussion forums. This promotes personal networking with a view to future cooperation opportunities.

What are the goals of TEDxHWZ?

As part of the Executive MBA Digital Leadership HWZ, students organize their own TEDx (university) event. This makes the HWZ the first Swiss university to incorporate this challenge as a fixed component in the curriculum of a degree program. Lecturers and course directors inspire and motivate the participants of the Executive MBA Digital Leadership to develop their own perspective on leadership skills in a digital future. As digital leaders, the TEDxHWZ 2022 team aims to present ideas worth sharing to an interested audience. The event consists of a series of talks and performances in the well-known TED(x) format.

This year, TEDxHWZ is dedicated to today's reality, which is characterized by turbulent events and thus becomes the new normal. This involves a multitude of challenges that have a reciprocal influence on each other. This in turn requires individual resilience. Overcoming these challenges requires a new approach and mindset. Collaborative, interdisciplinary teams with their collective intelligence are best suited to solve complex tasks in a systemic context. Permanent change and adaptation is required, making lifelong learning an ongoing task.

Renowned speakers on stage

With their exciting stories and ideas, the ten speakers will show how important it is to take different perspectives when shaping our future. Among other things Nicolas Huxley will be appearing as a speaker. He is an entrepreneur who founded the recycling company Elephbo in Cambodia, the circular economy app TauschToni, and a sustainable gadget startup called LilyBeKind. He considers himself an adventurer who has traveled four continents by bicycle, and he is passionate about making a difference in developing countries. In his presentation, he will highlight how the lack of focus is a risk for any enthusiastic person, curious creator and entrepreneur. "The eagerness to build something new and seize opportunities quickly has pitfalls that are often underestimated. Especially in the early years of startups, there are dangers lurking around every corner that want to be efficiently circumnavigated," emphasizes Nicolas Huxley. Nicolas Huxley talks about the balancing act of pivoting and persevering based on authentic experiences from his entrepreneurial journey. "Focus is the key to magical synergies, it is the fundamental basis for becoming the go-to person known for a subject, and suddenly the dots connect themselves," Nicolas Huxley underlines.

Further Suba Umathevan will be on the TEDx stage. She holds a master's degree in international relations with a specialization in international law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. In her more than decade-long career in non-profit management, she focused on women's and children's rights. She has also led development programs in many countries in Africa, Asia and South America, formulating strategies to help managers identify global megatrends and prepare for change. Before joining DROSOS FOUNDATION, Suba Umathevan headed Plan International Switzerland, an organization that promotes children's rights and equal opportunities for girls. Suba Umathevan is a member of the Assembly of the International Committee of the ICRC. She will talk about how she deals with her cultural identity and diversity. "What I perceived as weaknesses in her childhood have turned into strengths through her own authenticity. Coming to terms with her own history has helped break down cultural barriers and social norms," says Suba Umathevan.

Also Dr. Sarah Genner will be part of TEDxHWZ. Sarah Genner is a proven digital expert, consultant, board member in Zurich and course director at HWZ. She has an early PhD in Internet research, teaches at various universities and is a keynote speaker. She is passionate about digital technologies and their complex impact on society and the world of work. In her TEDx talk, she shows how we should be resourceful in dealing with the infinite possibilities when we are connected 24/7. The question is whether more technology will make us infinitely more productive. "The search for the good digital life is about weighing the risks and benefits of digital technologies - in our private lives and when we collaborate in the world of work," Sarah Genner emphasizes.

More information: www.tedxhwz.ch