Using Risk and Disruptions to Drive Innovation and Investment

Vector Center’s Ganter hosts at Global Entrepreneurship Summit

The world is not a click away, the blue planet is thirsty, and investing in risks to drive innovation were three of the messages J. Carl Ganter, Vector Center CEO, brought to the stage at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in The Hague in June.

Ganter was a moderator and emcee at the event, sponsored by the governments of the United States and the Netherlands, that united some 2,000 investors, entrepreneurs, and heads of state to design a collective, connected, and more collaborative future. Ganter moderated the session, “Future Now: Water,” which included senior executives from SwissRE and Coca-Cola Company.

Ganter also emceed the “Solutions Stage,” an in-the-round dynamic session about the competition between water, food, and energy. The Shark Tank-style event produced for television featured innovators with pitches for new technologies, investors seeking to understand opportunities in a world rife with risk and resource disruptions, and experts who added context and urgency.

Ganter hosts the Solutions Stage at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, the official international trade event of the United States and the Netherlands.

“We take on the world’s challenges with gravity and passion,” Ganter said. “Vector Center is leading these global conversations and helping set a more predictable course in turbulent times.”

The Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), in its tenth year, has become a leading convener of investors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and government agencies. Designed to promote international trade of big ideas and investment opportunities, it hosted some 2,000 participants, including scale-up and start-up entrepreneurs, corporate and other business leaders, investors, academics, and political leaders. The event was hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Rutte discussed the role business can play in addressing the world’s major challenges. “Climate change, food production, connectivity, energy and health. It’s crystal clear that society is your next big client. It’s clear that sustainability is by far the biggest business case of our time. And that innovation is key,” he said.

GES 2019 encouraged entrepreneurs to pursue solutions to global challenges in Agri/Food, Connectivity, Energy, Health, and Water.

The Dutch Prime Minister emphasized that strong societies are built on entrepreneurship and the principles of free trade. “Because entrepreneurship and the rule of law feed into one other. Because democracy, equality and political stability are prerequisites for prosperity and progress. And because in the end, fair competition and the protection of intellectual property benefit us all.”