More than 130 people attend the Alumni Meeting in London to reflect on the cities of the future

The board Alumni of the United Kingdom, presided by Alfredo Triviño (COM'99), organized the event"Future cities deeply human 2030" which took place last Friday, June 17, at the Tate Modern in London. The event, chaired by president María Iraburu, was attended by more than 130 alumni and other guests. The event brought together fifteen experts to reflect on what the cities of the future will be like from the perspective of sustainable development , the metaverse, blockchain, cybersecurity and urban planning.

The workshop began with a welcome from president, María Iraburufollowed by a presentation to position by Jesús Miguel Santamaríadirector of the Biodiversity and Environment Institute of the BIOMA Centerwho presented the project to the attendees. Brett CottenAuthor & CEO & co-founder of Arda Biomaterials, spoke about the materials and foods we will consume in the future. Sophie Thomasco-founder of Thomas.matthews, made the audience think about how the world will deal with the production of batteries for electric vehicles in the future, taking into account the difficulty of extracting the materials from which they are made. The first block was closed by Julia Vendraminco-founder of Labell-D, who told how she works through her sustainable fashion business to put an end to waste and excessive consumption.

Daniel CuthbertGlobal Head of Cyber Security Research at group Santander, opened the second block of presentations with a speech on automotive as a new frontier for cybersecurity. Robert Steedman, partner of IBM, presented project FAST-Infra, which business has been designing and developing since 2020. This is an initiative promoted by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), HSBC, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the OECD and the Global Infrastructure Facility with the goal to accelerate sustainable transition infrastructure. This was followed by a discussion on topic from mobility: Irena SpazzapanIrena Spazzapan, General Partner of Systemiq Capital, argued in her talk that the cities of the future should not be car-centric and that the cities of the future should not be car-centric. JP LewinCEO and founder of Zwings, raised the possibility of very light vehicles as the means of transport of the future.

The 'Finance to Accelerate Sustainable Transition Infrastructure' (FAST-Infra) initiative is an example conceived in early 2020 by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), HSBC, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the OECD and the Global Infrastructure Fund. IBM is leading the design and development of the FAST-Infra technology platform.

The workshop Alumni Meeting London ended with four presentations. In the first of these, Harry BrowneMark Lister, director of Formula E Strategy, spoke about how his business is contributing to the development of the electric mobility . This was followed by a discussion on how the metaverse will affect the cities of the future at a roundtable composed by Faisal Galaria (MBA IESE'03), CEO of Blippar, Richard Benson(MBA IESE'03), Creative Director of Accenture in the UK, director , Mimi Keshani(MBA IESE'03), Chief Operating Officer of Hadean Supercomputing, and Alfredo Triviño (COM'99), CEO of Audacity Partners and President of the University's board Alumni. Jeffrey D'Souza, CFO of HGI, spoke about the possibilities offered by the hemp plant in the decarbonisation process. To conclude the event, Bruno Moser, Senior Partner and director of design urban planning at Foster Architects, showed how to make the most of the power of the sun, shape cities, create communities and build homes by putting people at the centre of projects. Mark ListerThe event was presented and hosted by Audacity Partners, a member of the board Advisory Board. At the end of the event, attendees enjoyed a networking space on the rooftop of Tate Modern.

This event, as well as bringing together the alumni community in London, proved to be a journey to reflect on some of the key issues that will shape the lifestyles of the future. The "Future cities deeply human" event will continue in future editions to reflect on what cities will be like in the future.

Photo gallery of the event

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