100+ Design and Business Visionaries Offer a Glimpse into the New Normal
First Hybrid Live Edition with Selective Sessions Simulcast
on TV, Social Media and Live Venues

 

Organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) and co-organised by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), with Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) as the Lead Sponsor,

Business of Design Week (BODW), Asia’s annual flagship event on design, innovation and brands, has commenced this week from 30 November – 5 December 2020 in Hong Kong to bring a series of hybrid and virtual programmes to global audiences. An opening ceremony was held today to kick off the first-ever hybrid live BODW Summit (3 – 5 December 2020), with selected sessions simulcast on TV, social media and ‘BODW CitySalon’ partner locations to give audiences a ‘Beyond virtual, LIVE global’ experience.

The Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, guest of honour for the opening ceremony, stated, “COVID-19 has inflicted severe limitations on every aspect of our lives, work and even business calendar and highlight events. But rather than surrendering to the pandemic, the BODW organisers have made it a virtual conference, bringing all the business and innovation of BODW to the public and calling upon collaborative creativity to enable fresh possibilities.”

To connect more people and foster the exchange of new ideas, the BODW Summit is using multiple broadcast channels to promote the power of innovative design both in Hong Kong, and all over the world. Selective sessions from the Summit will be produced in a hybrid live format in partnership with ViuTV, and streamed on BODW’s customised virtual platform. Highlight talks will also be aired on ViuTVsix (every night at 20:00 GMT+8), livestreamed on social media, and screened at ‘BODW CitySalon’ partner locations across the city, including D2 Place and Fashion Walk during the Summit period (3 – 5 December).

Prof. Eric Yim, JP, Chairman of HKDC officially kicked off the 2020 edition of the international design and business summit and said in his welcome remarks: “VISION 20/21 is a vivid reminder for all to embrace creative vision, clarity and empathy in times of uncertainty. We need to unleash and rekindle creativity to illuminate our future with new possibilities and new pathways. BODW is not just a conference but also a global learning and exchange platform that brings visionaries and creative leaders together and promotes networking.”

Curated under the theme “VISION 20/21”, this year’s BODW will harness the power of collaborative creativity to provide timely insights into future trends and inspiration for success as we look forward to 2021 and beyond. Over 100 local and international design and business leaders from across sectors and industries around the world will take part in the BODW Summit with nearly 50 sessions of plenary talks, forums and MasterClasses. With the support from the UK as a strategic partner, more than 20 speakers from the UK will participate in the Summit, and over 10 of them will be showcased in a new “BODW Great British Design” series premiering during event.

Guided by the belief that we have the power to change how we view these times, and imagine new possibilities based on our real needs and what truly matters, the Summit covers nine timely themes, namely Brand Futures, Connected Health, Safe Travels, Circular Economy, Immersive Tech, Creative Leadership, Entwined Spaces, Communication & Design and Culture & the City in nearly 50 sessions. With BODW launched since 2002 and now in its 2020 edition, participants can also revisit “BODW Greatest Moments” to hear inspiring talks from the past speakers.

 

Close to 50 BODW Summit sessions

Among the highlights of the BODW Summit Programme are talks and forums by diverse voices from across the world, which will help participants define a new vision of success for the future:

• Business of Future Mobility (3 December at 11:15 GMT+8) – Jim Hackett, Special Advisor of Ford Motor Company (US) and Chelsia Lau, Design Director, Product & Mobility of Ford Motor Company (US) will introduce the human-centred design philosophy behind Ford’s development of a range of smart cars models to fit people’s needs.
• The Future of Post-Covid Travel (3 December at 19:30 GMT+8) – Corneel Koster, Chief Customer and Operating Officer of Virgin Atlantic (UK) and Danny Yeung, CEO /Co-founder of Prenetics (HK) will discuss how the collaboration between airlines and healthcare companies can shape a better future for post-Covid travel. Virgin Atlantic introduced the first on site pre-flight Covid-19 testing trial for air crew in the UK, while Prenetics, a leading global genetic testing and digital health company, deployed the Covid-19 test which is currently being trialled at Hong Kong International Airport and Heathrow Airport.
• Can Plants Give us New and Visionary Solutions to Design Problems? (4 December at 13:00 GMT+8) – Kigge Mai Hvid, Partner of JA studio (Denmark) shares insights into how plants provide inspiration for solutions in fields as diverse as energy, transportation, building, materials, healthcare, and even Mars exploration. Nature may not only be the gateway to healing the world after Covid-19 but may also pave exciting pathways for a sustainable future, through tangible design solutions and entirely new organisations, systems, and communication.
• Melting the Boundary: Live/Work (4 December at 12:30 GMT+8) – John Sellery, Group Managing Director of M Moser Associates (HK) and Keith Griffiths, Chairman & Global Design Principal of Aedas (HK) will talk about how the design of our workplaces has changed forever. With Covid-19 cases’ accelerating trends in office, the speakers will also discuss how home and mall design driven by the digital revolution will change organisations.
• Stay One Tuna Apart: Design to Save Lives (5 December at 15:30 GMT+8) – The pandemic has brought stress and panic to many lives across the globe. Eisuke Tachikawa, CEO of NOSIGNER (Japan) presented an intelligent humorous approach for communicating vital information and combating stress through his PANDAID initiative. Featuring tatami mats, The Beatles and a single tuna, his social distancing posters caught the Japanese public’s imagination and much media attention.
• Between Nature and Architecture (5 December at 14:00 GMT+8) – In this lecture, Sou Fujimoto, Architect & CEO of Sou Fujimoto Architects (Japan) will discuss the relationship between nature and architecture as well as that between nature and the man-made environment.

 

4 BODW MasterClasses

Four interactive MasterClasses will see some of the world’s most influential design and business leaders share their in-depth knowledge with a small group of participants.

• MasterClass: Magic of Lighting (3 December at 12:30 GMT+8) – Tino Kwan, Principal Consultant of TinoKwan Lighting Consultants Ltd (HK) says “successful design begins with light and ends with light.” He will use his own design for a 194-sqft Nano Home to demonstrate how lighting can play magic in such a small space and why lighting design should never be an afterthought to a design.
• MasterClass: Night School with Chi Wing Lo (4 December at 20:30 GMT+8) – Night school was crucial to the formative years of Chi Wing Lo, Founder of DIMENSIONE CHI WING LO (Italy). Participants of his interactive BODW MasterClass will submit their representative works in advance. Chi Wing Lo will discuss and explore their works and listen to their stories over the course of an evening.
• MasterClass: Making Big Art Work (5 December at 10:00 GMT+8) – Patrick Shearn, Chief Creative Officer of Poetic Kinetics (US)’s playfulness has been the key to his success as a creator of large-scale immersive public art installations, involving kinetic elements. He will be joined by Paul Clemente, Curator of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (US), Matthew Melnyk, Principal of Nous Engineering (US) and Marnie Sehayek, Creative strategist at Poetic Kinetics (US), to discuss the creative possibilities brought by cross-disciplinary collaboration between art and science.
• MasterClass: Who is Alan Chan? (5 December at 15:00 GMT+8) – Alan Chan, Founder and Creative Director of Alan Chan Design Company (HK) juggles many roles as an advertising man, designer, brand consultant, artist, gallerist and curator, driven by his personal perspectives on the co-existence of East and West and the traditional and contemporary in today’s commercial and cultural context. He will recount his ongoing creative journey and aspirations as he responds to the challenges and opportunities ahead.

*Please refer to the BODW Programme Schedule for detailed rundown of the BODW Summit.

 

In addition, BODW participants can network and make new connections with the worldwide BODW Community via the Summit’s virtual networking platform. The platform facilitates scheduled virtual meet-ups and live chats, so participants can expand their network and explore new business collaborations.

For registration and programme updates of BODW 2020, please visit the official website (2020.bodw.com/pr) and follow BODW on any of these social media channels: Facebook (Business of Design Week 設計營商周), Instagram (bodw_hkdc), Twitter (BusinessOfDesignWeek), LinkedIn (Business of Design Week) and YouTube (Business of Design).

		The Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, guest of honour for the opening ceremony, stated, “rather than surrendering to the pandemic, the BODW organisers have made it a virtual conference, bringing all the business and innovation of BODW to the public and calling upon collaborative creativity to enable fresh possibilities.”
		Prof. Eric Yim, JP, Chairman of HKDC officially kicked off the 2020 edition of the international design and business summit and said in his welcome remarks: “BODW is not just a conference but also a global learning and exchange platform that brings visionaries and creative leaders together and promotes networking.”
		(First row left to right) Ms Margaret Fong, Executive Director of Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Mr Victor Lo, Chairman, BODW Steering Committee of Hong Kong Design Centre; Prof. Eric Yim, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre; Mr Victor Tsang, Head of CreateHK; Mr Paul McComb, Director General, Trade & Investment, UK’s Department for International Trade in Hong Kong; and other honorable guests kicked-off the BODW 2020 Summit on 3 December.

*Please download the high-resolution images at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z5dervZZxzDYLop_7gPTN3gF1VueZIKS?usp=sharing

 

About Hong Kong Design Centre

Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is a non-governmental organisation, and was founded in 2001 as a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in establishing Hong Kong as an international centre of design excellence in Asia. Our public mission is to promote wider and strategic use of design and design thinking to create business value and improve societal well-being, with the aim of advancing Hong Kong as an international design centre in Asia. Learn more about us at www.hkdesigncentre.org

About Create Hong Kong

Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated agency set up by the HKSAR Government in June 2009. It is under the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and dedicated to spearheading the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia’s creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community. CreateHK sponsors HKDC to organise BODW and other projects to promote Hong Kong design. CreateHK’s website: www.createhk.gov.hk.

 

Disclaimer: Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) are those of the project organizers only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, CreateHong Kong, the CreateSmartInitiative Secretariat or the CreateSmartInitiative Vetting Committee.