Vivatechnology2021 – SINEORA Live
VIVATECH, the festival of innovation, took place in Paris, France, for four days from 16 June, as usual at the Porte de Versailles, but also as a “hybrid of exhibition” so there were many online contents.
SINEORA, VIVATECH’s official ambassador in Japan, has set three main themes of the event. SINEORA’s representative in Paris, Kimiko Imai, covered the booths at the real venue. At the webinars, the experts in the field of each theme were invited to participate in the as commentators, to deepen the discussions with the Japanese audience.
Following the first edition on Healthcare and the second edition on Smart City Industry, the third edition was Zero Emissions & Sustainability. Mrs. Umehara, CEO of Value Frontier, and Imai, CEO of SINEORA, talked about the current status of zero-emission and sustainability startups in Europe, and the differences between Europe, especially France, and Japan.
Sustainability was particularly important for us at VIVATECH. Many of the startups exhibiting were aware of the SDGs, including the design of their booths, showing that environmental issues are now seen as an inevitable part of doing business in Europe. This year’s exhibition included a number of projects such as AI-based energy optimisation, the development of construction materials using recycled materials, and the SAS, which supports companies’ reform of the SDGs. Furthermore, local government projects also participated in the exhibition, which shows that not only companies but also society as a whole is raising awareness.
Mrs. Umehara, our guest for this session, pointed out that it is important for Japan to “visualize” the SDGs, but at the same time, it is costly for companies to quantify various indicators. In this sense, for example, if air pollution can be quantified and provided to companies as a platform, then even small and medium-sized companies can promote environmental reforms with low cost. As Mrs. Umehara said, “It is not enough for the top management to just wave the flag” and this point is absolutely important. In order for society as a whole to make the shift towards a sustainability-based society, it is essential to raise awareness at the individual level. In Europe, people are today very much conscious about this and there are now many regulations for large companies. Companies are also incorporating the SDGs into their PR strategy and this is having an impact on raising awareness at an individual level. Furthermore, in Europe, the social dimension is also important: the SDGs are not only about improving the environment, but also about discrimination, gender equality and inclusion of people from disadvantaged social groups. In this way, there is a complementary relationship between improving awareness in large companies and changing awareness at the individual level. By incorporating what we can do one by one into our daily operations, we can achieve a real shift in society.
Written by Mai Ono
