INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR A BETTER WORLD WAS THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RED BULL BASEMENT FESTIVAL ZURICH  ©Armon Ruetz / Red Bull Content Pool

A week filled with innovative technologies, creative exchanges and transfer of knowledge for people who want to change the world for the better these were the highlights of the Red Bull Basement Festival in Zurich. Monique Morrow, Paul-Olivier Dehaye, Mona Mijthab and Patrick Meier were also present.

The second Red Bull Basement Festival took place at Volkshaus in Zurich. Under the banner of «Technology for Good» and «Social Innovation», the event offered a platform to people and entrepreneurs who are interested or already invested in the improvement of social challenges.

Inspiring Keynotes

The festival opened with inspiring keynotes from already successfully established Swiss entrepreneurs who all share the goal to do something for social good. Patrick Meier, founder of WeRobotoics talked about his experience with cargo drones that bring medical help to remote areas. Mona Mijthab, the co-founder of Mosan, a safe sanitation solution for developing nations (Forbes Top 10 Swiss Startups 2019), shone a light on the opportunities and challenges she encounters as a socially-oriented entrepreneur.

«DESIGN IT FOR THE REST, IT WILL BE FINE FOR THE WEST»

Klaus Schöneberger of EssentialTech Centre at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) offered an insight into his work that combines science with innovative technologies in order to support humanitarian aid. He gave the public this food for thought, which also shapes his daily work: «Design for the rest, it will be fine for the West.»

The co-founder of Humanzied Internet and president of the VETRI Foundation, Monique Morrow talked about self-determination in conjunction with personal data. After her presentation, she and Paul-Olivier Dehaye, one of the people who exposed the Cambridge Analytica scandal, hosted a round-table discussion about digital identity, the use of personal and collective data as well as their risks and benefits.

The host of the event Leonhard Nima summarizes the data protection discussion as follows: «The most important private data with high social potential are often the most sensitive of them all. » His overall conclusion: «It is very interesting to see how the issues and discussions have evolved since the last Basement Festival in December of 2018. The perspectives get more diverse and the ideas often come with holistic and sustainable solution approaches. »

Learning by Doing

With the Startup-Pitches it was more about gaining experience and learning from experts. Young entrepreneurs had three minutes to pitch their idea to the investors from Sictic. Therewith the startups had the opportunity to receive insightful feedback and gain pitching experience in front of an audience. The following young entrepreneurs were present: LyF, SunCrafter MotionTech, Crowd Container, Fair Voyage, Volunty and Capacity.During the week prior to the festival, from October 16 to 18, Social Entrepreneurs could attend free Workshops on topics such as Storytelling, Ideation or Impact Management. Experts shared their knowhow with the goal to support the participants on their way to a successful company

About Red Bull Basement

Red Bull Basement connects and supports the next generation of entrepreneurs that take up the challenges of our modern society, and use their knowledge and creativity in order to develop new technology that brings decisive social benefit.

For more information regarding Red Bull Basement Festival and the program, visit www.redbull.com/basement

©Armon Ruetz / Red Bull Content Pool