Virtual South Tyrolean Economic Forum

Corona-related, the 16th South Tyrolean Economic Forum took place for the first time in an exciting digital and interactive format and was open to the general public free of charge; even beyond the state's borders.

After virtual welcoming remarks by South Tyrol Governor Arno Kompatscher and President of Südtiroler Sparkasse Gerhard Brandstätter, the high-profile speakers addressed the challenges faced during the Corona crisis as well as future prospects in the economy and the new opportunities that now present themselves as a result.

The key messages were unanimous: "Every crisis can be an opportunity!" Digitalization in particular, which has developed exceptionally dynamically as a result of the crisis, offers entrepreneurs enormous potential. A look at the USA or specifically at the Silicon Valley shows how important it is to dare new things and take risks in order to remain successful in business.

The speakers at a glance:

- Angelika Gifford is Vice President at Facebook with many years of experience in media, digitization and high-tech responsible for Europe.

"We are all online. We are all mobile. We have experienced a profound digitalization that cuts across all areas of life and that in a very short period of time. Now we need to boldly seize the opportunity. Let's break new ground!"

- Christof Hettich is co-founder and co-CEO of Dietmar Hopp BioTech Holding "dievini" in Tübingen and successful as CEO of the health and education group SRH Holding in Heidelberg.

"It takes entrepreneurial courage and the creation of new industrial policy structures to enable entrepreneurial change. Europe has untapped potential in the life sciences and beyond!
Corona is an enormous challenge, but at the same time an opportunity. In these times, you have to expect everything. Also with the good. Corona makes things possible - even much faster - that were not feasible before. Corona has forced us to speed up processes."

- Alex Nigg is a native of South Tyrol and founder and CEO of Properly, a successful San Francisco-based digital platform for property and accommodation management. Prior to founding Properly, he worked as a venture capital investor, most recently at Canvas Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures in Silicon Valley.

"A joint virtual journey through Silicon Valley lets us share success stories of South Tyroleans. The interaction of different cultures, entrepreneurial universities, innovative venture capital firms, courage to take risks and the passion to make a difference are just a few success factors we can learn from. Silicon Valley is like a roller coaster - mostly up, occasionally down. But at the heart of it, you can never give up. Silicon Valley is flying high at the moment. Digitization has been extremely helpful. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. One of them is that I've written off Silicon Valley a few times. But in the long run, Silicon Valley has always won and will continue to do so."

The South Tyrolean Economic Forum has become the leading business conference and offers excellent opportunities for reflection on one's own actions and innovative impulses.

The Economic Forum is organized in partnership by the South Tyrolean Savings Bank, the Entrepreneurs' Association of South Tyrol, the South Tyrolean Business Newspaper, the publishing house Business Bestseller, the network of South Tyroleans abroad "Südstern" and MCI | The Entrepreneurial School®.