5-day learning of the 22nd International Workshop on Business Incubation (IBI) has been successfully completed at XNode on November 15th, 2019!! 21 experts from different fields shared their industry learnings in the week for 23 participants from 8 countries.
The immersive learning experience was very engaging for all the IBI participants. This IBI lasted from November 11th - 15th, and adopted a combination of lectures, exchanges, visits, combining theories with practices, and thus to apply knowledge for the future actions. The workshop has covered: innovation in the business model of incubators; discussions around innovation and entrepreneurship in China; industrial development; the evolution of China's innovation and core experience; technical exchanges in the vertical sector of the industry; the growth model of cross-border incubation businesses; the operation of the startup incubation platform; elements of effective integration; and how big companies can make breakthroughs in innovation. The course was rich in content, practical and targeted, and very well-received by all participants.
Having said all that, let us now dive into the colorful, fulfilling and fun learning journey of the 22nd International Workshop on Business Incubation.
On November 11th, XNode's Head of Innovation, Luuk Eliens, was the first speaker and lead the brainstorming of incubator business models from three angles: definition of innovation, innovation in China, and the innovation eco-system. By comparing the innovation models of the West and China, Luuk introduced innovation in China considering the scale of resources, different innovation models, the important role of the government in promoting innovation, the adoption rate by the market and audience, and the relatively low sensitivity of the public to personal privacy data. Just from these five key factors, we can see that Chinese incubators need to consider relevant services and offers in their provision of innovation services.
On November 12th, in order to give participants a deeper understanding of the development trend of new technologies, we invited 7 speakers from three most popular areas of cutting-edge technology, new retail, artificial intelligence, and life sciences, to offer interpretations of their specialized industry.
The world is changing rapidly. As traditional industries are facing the challenge of being subverted, retail industry is no exception. Rights have been transferred to the hands of consumers who can decide how, when, and what to buy. So, then how shall we shape the future of the retail industry?
Stephane Monsallier analyzed the gap between new retail and traditional retail. In a world that emphasizes customer experience, not all innovations, technologies, and new uses are successful. How then do we motivate ourselves to jump out of the box and take inspiration from other industries? How do we keep up with the times and improve the customer-centric view of retail? These are the key questions we all must consider.
Vincent Djen combined the needs and trends of the future fashion apparel industry with the indispensable concept of environmental protection and sustainable development. In such a highly competitive market environment, only by adapting your branding, marketing, financial capital control, etc., and combining it with the most fashionable fashion brand development model, can you properly understand the market environment of the new retail industry.
Mike Lai introduced the concept of X Thinking with domestic and international branding examples such as China Merchants Bank, Xiao Guan Tea and Weltmeister. The outstanding experience brought a deep and meaningful relationship between the brand and the consumer. In modern society, competition between brands is not just about function and price. As people become savvier, technology grows faster, and competition intensifies. We need a new way of thinking that helps brands stand out from the crowd and differentiate themselves from competitors.
On the theme of “Borderless Outreach of Science and Technology in AI”, Mr. Daniel Shi used practical cases to explain the processes and possible problems of cross-border incubation cooperation between AI and IoT technologies, and how artificial intelligence technology can bring value to enterprises, enhanceing innovation competitiveness, and find its own advantages in the segmentation field. He also provided unique insights into investors' decision-making ideas and how to evaluate potential projects.
Mingke, who wrote the explosive article "Artificially Challenged 2: the AI you see is not that intelligence", expressed his views on the theme of Artificial Intelligence and Smart Services for the Future. Mingke shared about the financial assistant service developed by an international automobile group, emphasizing that about 90% of current business processes are automatically handled by AI. The advantage of this kind of assistant is that it can respond and interact flexibly at any time, with the ultimate goal of providing multi-round, multi-tasking, multi-modal, multi-terminal services. Mingke also said that due to the use of different frameworks, different modalities, and independent work, the experience of intelligent customer service provided by enterprises for end users is fragmented. In addition, the main limitation of the current AI assistant is that the acquired domain knowledge has limitations, and the service can only solve the problem in a specific field. Therefore, he proposed to establish a future-oriented and decentralized cross-domain to service through a decentralization service system.
Next, around the theme of Innovation and Development of Life Science, JIong Zhang shared "From Bench and Bed to Business", process from laboratory and clinical discovery to commercialization. Yongqin Zeng issued an initiative with the theme of “Team Up to Accelerate Health Tranformation”. In order to achieve better, cheaper and faster medical services, people are striving to find innovative solutions at different levels and in different aspects. At present, new medical technology equipment has been developed for diagnosis and treatment. Artificial intelligence has also been well applied in some scenarios, such as imaging and pathology, as well as in managing hospital logistics. Obviously, innovation in the field of life sciences is also constantly breaking through and developing.
How can incubators help overseas startups localize in China and became more successful? Kevin Worner shared best practices on cross-border acceleration from accelerating 39+ foreign scaleups in China. From the legal perspective, Sibo Qing had given an overview of doing business in China in light of new foreign investment law. Martin Gothe, as a mentor with over 10 years experience in China, explained why foreign governments should invest in cross-border startup programmes with China.
With the market growth in China, more and more foreign startups are aiming to enter for new opportunities, yet it is not an easy thing. Getting to understand China from 0 to 1 is very important, with knowledge of legal and IP environment, company set-up, business model for China, connection to the right resources and partners, and insights on Chinese consumers, etc.
In a fast-changing world, innovation is not only associated with startups, but always the focus of corporates. More and more corporates are seeking internal innovation as well as open collaboration with external startups to keep a leading role in the industry. XNode has been working with corporates like Intel, Merck, Osram on innovation projects that drive business impacts. To learn about the latest practices of corporate innovation in China, we invited innovation practicers from the corporate background. Kapil Kane, Intel China's Head of Innovation, shared on how they accelerate business growth at Intel China in the past five years. Christine Zhu, the Industry Cooperation Senior Manager of National Intelligent Sensor Innovation Center (SIWAVE Inc.), introduced how the enterprise eco-system is leading innovation and bringing opportunities for China in the industry of smart sensors. Sean Zeng from Merck Innovation Hub China, is the Senior Manager on Cross-sector Innovation Collaboration and gave a full picture of Merck's Innovation path and practices, echoing their vision "Dare to Innovate".
Our panelists from different backgrounds shared their opinions and thought on the future of incubators. Zhonghao Wang, Assistant General Manager of Caohejing Innovation Center, works for a state-owned incubator. Marian Danko, Founder and CEO of weHustle and TECOM Conf, is building a community of innovators. Caroline Doussot, Director North Asia of FrenchFounders, has been driving values for French-speaking business club around the world. They've exchanged thoughts on incubation in a specific segmentation, internal incubation/community development plans and how to deal with other stakeholders in the eco-system.
After 3 days of non-stop learning, it came out 1-day break with field exploration on November 14th. This was the day to explore various incubators and get an onsite experience of the innovation eco-system in Shanghai.
The graduation ceremony of IBI came on November 15th morning with the witness of Lihong Huang, Deputy Director of Shanghai Technology Innovation Center. Ms. Huang expressed her thought and wish for all IBI participants, hoping IBI would be a bridge between incubators, corporate innovators, startups, VCs, and truly connect innovators from China and the abroad.
After a full week of listening, sharing, and exchanging, the 22nd International Workshop on Business Incubation has been successfully completed. It was an inspiring week for participants not only on incubation business, but on new technology and innovation as well. Shanghai, as a city of innovation, has shown its vibrance in China and strives to innovate with international impact. In the future, we look for more exchanges and collaboration in cross-border innovation.
That's all? Well... not to miss the fun part at the water town of Shanghai. It came finally the orienteering at Zhujiajiao, giving our foreign friends a taste of picturesque scenery and traditional culture in China, and lots of fun ~~
IBI helps you to achieve all these regardless you want to understand the global innovation service model, learn through case study, or you would like to communicate with the experts in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.
International Workshop on Business Incubation（IBI）
IBI workshop is sponsored by Shanghai Technology Innovation Center and Shanghai IBI Network (accredited by Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, Ministry of Science & Technology of China). IBI workshop is designed for business managers, entrepreneurs, governmental officials and other incubation stakeholders wishing to increase their understanding and know-how of international co-incubation business.
Since its initiation in 1998, IBI workshop has attracted over 500 participants from 30 countries and has been one of the major training programs of AABI (Asian Association of Business Incubation). The workshop sponsors & organizers work closely with innovation actives around the world to deliver the knowledge and experiences on startup accelerating business.
Shanghai Technology Innovation Center
Founded in 1988, Shanghai Technology Innovation Center is a non-profitable public science and technology service organization affiliated to Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality. STIC is responsible for a series of tech-SMEs policy implementation as well as technology transfer services and incubators coordinating. STIC has played as the supporting organization of STBIA (Shanghai Technology Business Incubation Association), the leading organization of Shanghai IBI (International Business Incubator), the coordinating organization of EEN (Enterprise European Network) East China, the secretariat of AABI (Asian Association of Business Incubation).
XNode
XNode is an innovation accelerator dedicated to bringing business transformation to entrepreneurs and large corporates. Based in Shanghai, we provide professional localization services while helping them to connect with innovation forces around the world. Not only entrepreneurs and large enterprises, XNode has also established good cooperation with government agencies, academic institutions, investors, both overseas and local incubators and accelerators.
On top of quality co-working spaces, we also build entrepreneurship and innovation community, gather together our incubators and innovative platform partners. These helped people from different languages, cultures and industries to communicate and learn from one another.
By 2018, We have 674 XNoders in our community; accelerated 34 cross-border startups from 4 countries; helped 141 corporate innovators and participated in 37 corporate innovation acceleration projects; generated 40M+ RMB revenue for corporate innovators; 54M+ RMB raised by startups in our programs and reached 97% Net Promoter Score (NPS) on our acceleration programs.
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