It takes almost three hours to get to Andorra la Vella from Barcelona airport.
It is a pretty long trip, but it worth it to learn more about how Philips is creating an international R&D city in Eindhoven at the High Tech Campus (www.hightechcampus.nl ). As it happens that the guy I am sharing the trip with is Philips’ Director Public R&D Programs, Vice President, Dr Jan J.H. Van Den Biesen, and he turns out to be a very nice person.
It is a pretty long trip, but it worth it to learn more about how Philips is creating an international R&D city in Eindhoven at the High Tech Campus (www.hightechcampus.nl ). As it happens that the guy I am sharing the trip with is Philips’ Director Public R&D Programs, Vice President, Dr Jan J.H. Van Den Biesen, and he turns out to be a very nice person.
Once in Andorra there is only the time to shake hands with a young Dutch entrepreneur Dr. Hugo Niesing, who is working to improve the renewable energy market. He is somebody Europe should definitely be proud of (www.wattpic.com). Another guy working in this area, is Mr Holger Jan Hartmann, CEO of Baden Solar (www.badensolar.com ), his company really deserves a visit because I am sure we will be hearing a lot more from him in the future. Europe should definately take more pride in being one the world leaders in the environmental conservation.
9AM Thursday the 29th of November 2007, ‘The Future of Europe Summit’ kicks off (www.europesummit.org ).
Twenty minutes before the beginning of my panel (‘Discussion with the Next Generation: A Fresh Perspective on European Revival’) it is time to meet with the moderator and the other speakers. There is one among them who immediately gets my sympathy, Karoli Hindriks, Country Manager of MTV Estonia. A very active girl, she explains to me that young Estonians have a lot more chances nowadays because the country is starting from nothing, they have the chance to build it up almost from zero. I think that young Estonians have more possibilities because they are like her: passionate, professional, and curious.
Europe should take heed from its eastern members, we should be as hungry and risk taking as they are.
“Education, Education, Education”.
This is the way I make my debut in the discussion. While the close is for one of my favorite stories: the career of Steve Jobs, once founder of Apple, fired from his own company and now back again to exploit one of the most outstanding success of our time. The moral of this story? Don’t dwell on mistakes and failures. The greatest successes are often the sons of the hardest losses. Apple gave Mr. Jobs a second chance and he is transforming our way of living. The question is, are Europeans ready to accept people’s failures and give them a second, third, fourth, maybe even tenth chance?
Twenty minutes before the beginning of my panel (‘Discussion with the Next Generation: A Fresh Perspective on European Revival’) it is time to meet with the moderator and the other speakers. There is one among them who immediately gets my sympathy, Karoli Hindriks, Country Manager of MTV Estonia. A very active girl, she explains to me that young Estonians have a lot more chances nowadays because the country is starting from nothing, they have the chance to build it up almost from zero. I think that young Estonians have more possibilities because they are like her: passionate, professional, and curious.
Europe should take heed from its eastern members, we should be as hungry and risk taking as they are.
“Education, Education, Education”.
This is the way I make my debut in the discussion. While the close is for one of my favorite stories: the career of Steve Jobs, once founder of Apple, fired from his own company and now back again to exploit one of the most outstanding success of our time. The moral of this story? Don’t dwell on mistakes and failures. The greatest successes are often the sons of the hardest losses. Apple gave Mr. Jobs a second chance and he is transforming our way of living. The question is, are Europeans ready to accept people’s failures and give them a second, third, fourth, maybe even tenth chance?
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P.S.: For a much more detailed policy guide, please have a look at the meeting's press release.
