EPO and City of Munich nurture future leaders and innovators at global summit
The EPO and the City of Munich engaged with future leaders and entrepreneurs at the One Young World Summit from 22 - 25 July, where delegates attended a series of speeches, panels, networking events and workshops. As part of the event, the Office held an interactive workshop to introduce young innovators to the patent system and highlight its role in driving progress, creating jobs, and supporting the economy. In addition to the breakout session, the EPO hosted a digital exhibition booth to promote topics such as the Young Inventors prize, EPO Data Hub app, and Espacenet.
During the workshop opening, Steve Rowan spoke about the importance of young people in tackling challenges, saying "The EPO wants to support sustainability driven initiatives and at the same time inspire an interest in science and innovation among younger audience. VP4 Nellie Simon added "One of the main reasons we're here today is that we want to understand the younger generation and learn what motivates or interests them - the summit is an ideal platform for this type of exchange".
Two former European Inventor Award finalists, Esben Beck (Norway) and Carmen Hijosa (Spain), were invited to share their success stories with young delegates and explain the role of patents in growing a business. The event drew to a close following a session in which participants reconstructed the inventive process, looking at prior art searches, patentability, obviousness and related themes.
The event is one of several EPO outreach activities aimed at a younger audience and follows the recent establishment of the Young Inventors prize under the European Inventor Award. As Munich was the host for the 2021 edition, the summit provided an opportunity for the Office to reaffirm its commitment to the city.
Supporting young leaders: an investment in the future
One Young World is a non-profit organisation founded in 2009. Its annual summit draws delegates from over 190 countries and encourages them to work together in solving pressing issues. The delegates, aged between 18 and 30, come from various sectors and throughout the event they are counselled by influential political, business and humanitarian leaders. Following the summit, the delegates become One Young World Ambassadors and return to their local communities or organisations, equipped with the knowledge and network to help them drive initiatives that can make a difference. In addition to the annual gathering, a programme of activities including caucuses, funding, peer-to-peer mentoring, media exposure, and speaking engagements runs throughout the year.
According to the impact report published by One Young World, in 2020, Ambassador led projects generated over EUR 200 million in social value, directly impacted 4.4 million people, and helped mitigate 190 000 tonnes of carbon emissions.