Hitachi at The Economist Sustainability Summit 2017
Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2017
The Hitachi Group sponsored “The Economist Sustainability Summit 2017,” held from June 6th to June 7th 2017 in Austin, Texas. This summit brought together more than 200 industry leaders, prominent investors, policy makers, economists and academics to create a constructive dialogue around the actions needed to make a sustainable future a reality, focusing on innovation in manufacturing, surrounding technologies, and policies.
Editors from The Economist led discussions with leaders from business, investment, politics, academia and civil society to identify the new business rules of sustainability. Main points of conversation focused on the impact of President Donald Trump's announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. In response, business and industry leaders expressed optimistic resolution throughout the speaking panels, offering strategies, ideas and solutions to help decision makers prepare for a sustainable future.
Hitachi sought to advance the conversation around issues from big macro trends shaping the sustainability agenda and breakthrough technologies that are encouraging a sense of optimism despite the political climate, to leading sustainability strategies being pursued by top companies.
"At Hitachi, we believe ‘the future is open to suggestion,’ particularly in providing sustainable solutions that improve the air we breathe and the water we drink, and better manage safe urban environments and utilize our energy resources. Participating in the Summit was aligned with a number of our sustainability strategies, including increased collaboration with customers, government officials, municipalities, research institutions and other organizations who are looking for solutions for today’s environmental challenges."
Theodore Lowen, Director, Hitachi America, Ltd.
Event speakers included:
Panelists
John Podesta
Founder, Center for American
Progress, and former chief of
staff U.S. government
Trisa Thompson
Chief responsibility officer, Dell
Julia W. Novy-Hildesley
Executive director, change
leadership for sustainability,
school of earth, energy and
environmental sciences, Stanford
University
Carol Browner
Leadership council, Nuclear
Matters and former
administrator, Environmental
Protection Agency
Cyrus Wadia
Vice-president, Sustainable
business and innovation, Nike
Cynthia Ringo
Senior partner, DBL Partners
Philippe Lacamp
Senior vice-president, Americas,
Cathay Pacific Airways
Steve Adler
Mayor, City of Austin
Richard Waycott
President and chief executive,
The Almond Board of California
Jesse Griffiths
Executive chef and owner, Dai
Due Butcher Shop & Supper Club
Jay Lipman
Co-founder, Ethic
Innovation with an Impact
Hitachi was highlighted at the event as a thought leader in the discussion around sustainability and hosted a private dinner the evening before the conference with a bespoke theme to demonstrate Hitachi’s leadership role and expertise around sustainability. The pre-event dinner was attended by professionals and moderated by an Economist Group editor.
Hitachi hosted dinner topics of discussion:
“Innovation with an Impact” -
- How can technological innovation be used to engage both businesses and consumers to deliver a positive impact on their communities?
- How can businesses, local governments and other organizations be educated to understand, choose, and require more sustainable solutions to their energy needs?
- From wind farms to batteries and biomass plants, what connected technologies and power sources, driven by IoT, will become indispensable to the energy portfolio of the future?
Hitachi believes in co-collaboration with its partners and customers to better understand the challenges society is facing and how we can better address these challenges with our social innovation business and work towards solutions that will positively impact society. Being a part of The Economist community enables Hitachi to reach key leaders that can influence how industry reacts to Sustainability and respond appropriately.
This event provided The Economist Sustainability Summit members the opportunity not only to engage with their peers but also to learn from one another, in the spirit of true collaborative creation.
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