Exponential Day #2: the new (im)mobility is here to stay
By Marina Henriques, Innovation Consultant. (Originally published in Spanish)
“The day that the future became the present”, that is how the Agency for Business Competitiveness in the region of Catalonia (ACCIÓ) described the second edition of the event Exponential Day, a benchmark congress on business disruption.
This year we have had to face the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. A context in which our way of consuming, interacting, living with others, working and learning have changed. But the new restrictions and confinement have made one thing very clear: we cannot leave our homes, or we must do so with absolute care. This factor gives rise to a new field for many people: immobility or, as the hashtag shared on social networks states, #BetterThanMoving.
Another world was possible within this one
The truth is that, as a result of this context, we have observed the enormous plasticity of organisations and society. This is proven by our report on the Observatory of Emergent Capabilities, in which we analysed more than 150 initiatives that reinvented themselves during the health crisis. We learned that another world was possible within this one, and we reached five key observations:
There is an emerging network society and we must learn to put data to produce value.
We must explore productive flexibility and value open-source and underutilised assets.
Our collaborators have an incredible capacity for transformation and citizens can and must play a central role in the system.
Business systems must be restructured and, to do so, they need to see the value of what's unique.
Shared knowledge is essential in a context of shared collective destiny.
A disruptive workshop on Exponential Day #2
Weeks after the publication of this report and, on the occasion of Exponential Day #2, we organised a fully online workshop in which more than 100 people could explore this new (im)mobility. Through our Pentagrowth methodology for the design of disruptive business models, we worked on the 15 disruptive future scenarios that we introduced in the round table: Why will (non)mobility and exponential technologies transform all businesses? led by Javier Creus, Diego Soroa and Rafel Fors prior to the Exponential Workshop.
In less than three hours, professionals from different sectors from around the world came together to co-create business ideas and address the different challenges of the new mobility. "The 15-minute city", "self-driving electric drones & the air borough" or "business connectivity vs. business travel", were some of the futuristic scenarios that were developed in this dynamic.
Among the participating teams, three ideas were selected as winners:
In the scenario of the regulation of the new mobility: artificial intelligence and open data, the opportunity to create a platform with autonomous and sustainable vehicles that can generate their own mobility services was envisioned. This will allow all people to go wherever they want safely and without polluting and thus have new transport routes. The platform also allows to finance various projects with crowdfunding.
On the stage of living virtual lives, an abundance of many more possible worlds was projected. Realities in which to display the personality of people in a virtual way without limitations or social conditioning could contribute to humanity its most authentic "I", promoting shared transhumanity.
In the scenario of the hybridisation of presence, the possibility of having more free time, a better quality of life and a territorial balance was highlighted. In this way, anyone with vital concerns could reconnect with nature and the community and, through their greater personal knowledge and happiness, add value to the environment they belong in.
Brainstorming with the collaborative tool Miro to vote on business ideas aligned with the #FutureThatRocks of a universal, safe and sustainable mobility.
A change of vision
The current context and Exponential Day left us with a clear vision: from now on, we will move for what motivates us and we will think twice if we really need to catch a plane to go to a distant meeting that could be done by video call. Those of us who can, we will work in remote places, remote corners of the city to try to improve our quality of life. We will see an increase in opportunities in unpopulated areas. We will travel because of real obligation or simple desire, and not by simple habit as we previously did. And, in addition, mobility will be increasingly efficient, leading to a more sustainable world.
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