Innovation Forum 2012
June 26, 2012
Innovation is the hallmark of the Rockefeller Foundation's century of groundbreaking initiatives. It has characterized the Foundation's most compelling and life-saving work, from the development of a Nobel-prize winning vaccine for yellow fever in the 1930s, to the agriculture techniques pioneered by Rockefeller scientists that enabled the Green Revolution in the 1960s. The 2012 Innovation Forum focused on working together to identify how innovation can be applied in new and interesting ways to promote the well being of humanity around the world.
The Rockefeller Foundation believes that innovation occurs when problems and potential solutions are reframed, reimagined or recombined in new ways to achieve a transformational product, process or service. Innovation in the social context not only generates new ground-breaking products but restructures and re-organizes social systems to yield better solutions and create stronger, more resilient societies.
How can we make sure
that the benefits of
new technologies
do not bypass
the world's poor?
It is in this pursuit of innovation that we held the 2012 Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Forum. Our focus was guided by the underlying question: how can we make sure that the benefits of new technologies do not bypass the world’s poor?
During the Forum, we showcased some of the latest cutting-edge technologies and invited participants -- both online and off -- to become innovators for the afternoon, to join us in imagining whether these technologies might benefit marginalized people around the world and what pathways we might design to bring those benefits to people in need.
Participants included:
Arianna Huffington -- Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
Aneesh Chopra -- First CTO of the United States of America
Bre Pettis – Co-founder and CEO, MakerBot Industries
Mark Post – Professor, Maastricht University; Creator of “no-kill” meat
Carlo Ratti – Director, MIT SENSEable City Laboratory
Claire Diaz Ortiz -- Head of Corporate Social Innovation, Twitter
Maria Aiolova -- Founding Co-President, Terreform ONE
Limor Fried – Founder, Adafruit Industries
During our evening awards ceremony, we also honored a group of compelling individuals and organizations who are applying innovation in new and different ways to promote the well-being of humanity around the world.
Award recipients include:
Ratan Tata – Chairman, Tata Sons Ltd.
Sir Ronald Cohen – Chairman, The Portland Trust and Big Society Capital; Director, Social Finance US
J. Carl Ganter – Director and Co-Founder, Circle of Blue
Design for Change – A global movement designed to give children an opportunity to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action.
The evening concluded with a fireside chat between Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin and Ratan Tata about innovation in both philanthropy and business.
Agenda:
Main Program: 12:45-6:30
Engaging discussions, interactive breakout sessions and provocative conversations with internationally renowned speakers to debate and identify the cross-disciplinary barriers and opportunities that exist for building resilience.
Cocktail Reception and Dinner: 6:30-9:30