On December 17th 2020, "Flexible Office" innovation project roadshow was successfully hosted by Saint-Gobain China and its partner TusPark Jiangsu in Shanghai.
Through keynote speech, pitch session and panel discussion, the roadshow introduced to the audience the current new trends in office comfort and development and construction of future office, Saint-Gobain's multi-comfort solutions as well as Saint-Gobain's external innovation and cooperation.
This year, Saint-Gobain launched the startup competition themed with “Flexible Office”, where it has been looking into three categories of modular prefabricated construction, comfort improvement in office and smart office solutions.
The eight projects of this roadshow were selected from a lot of applicants, including flexible office and furniture design as well as the application of new materials and digital IoT technology. These projects will be accelerated by Saint-Gobain and Tuspark to grow with the support of technology, market and capital.
Mr. Javier Gimeno, Senior Vice President of Saint-Gobain Group and CEO of Asia Pacific Region, introduced Saint-Gobain's history, business overview and future development plans in his speech. He said that one of the secrets of Saint-Gobain's long-lasting prosperity for more than 350 years is to insist on open innovation and continuously introduce external innovation to stimulate the vitality of the company, enhance the market competitiveness of the company and its products. Saint-Gobain will, as always, work with start-ups with strategic fit to build the innovation ecosystem.
He also mentioned in the interview: “The cooperation with SMEs is part of Saint-Gobain’s open innovation. We hope to combine the creative ideas of start-ups with Saint-Gobain’s industry experience to achieve mutual benefit.”
Tang Hao, Vice Managing Director of TusPark Jiangsu, introduced TusPark's global innovation network and vertical industry incubation/acceleration system at the roadshow. TusPark adheres to the open innovation concept, values the cooperation with large corporates, and aims to build an open and innovation ecosystem together with large corporates, small and micro businesses and capital.
In recent years, "Flexible Office" has gradually become a hot topic. Covid-19 pandemic has greatly changed how people work. Employers are paying more attention to creating a smart, comfortable, healthy and efficient office environment for employees. In post-Covid-19 era, how to improve the comfort of employees and achieve the goal of higher work efficiency through flexible office modules and smart tools are the question industry leaders like Saint-Gobain are thinking about.
Javier Gimeno’s comments on this topic is: “The future of flexible office will develop in a more comfortable, healthier and smarter way. It is going to be so rapid as to evoke a revolution. In terms of comfort, smart office or living environment in the future will take into account thermal, acoustic and optical comfort, in the meantime, energy saving and emission reduction will be emphasized a lot. Furthermore, construction materials will be developed to create a healthier environment for users, such as using sterilization and antibacterial materials to purify the air. In addition, integrating various data sensors and data control systems could make the living space smarter."
Undoubtedly, innovation is the driving force for corporate development. Only by continuously generating new ideas and opening up new opportunities, can we stand at the frontiers of global technology and keep our competitive advantage in the industry. Saint-Gobain will always be committed to open innovation, establishing external partnership and creating a more flexible, comfortable and healthy office and living environment.
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*About Saint-Gobain NOVA
As Saint-Gobain's external venture capital arm, NOVA engages with start-up ecosystems and Saint-Gobain businesses to structure partnerships and investments for transformational growth.
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