Over 1,500 people joined the GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong recently to hear from 160 world leading experts and witness 25 showcases of innovative new businesses, ideas and technology.
Conceptualised by event and experience agency, Innovision – working to a brief from the Department for International Trade – the festival brought to life the government’s long standing GREAT campaign. Forging closer trading links between the UK and Asia was a key objective.
Across four days, the GREAT Festival of Innovation celebrated collaboration and support between British and Asian businesses, governments, cultural and educational institutions. The Asia Society venue was transformed to allow multiple speaker sessions, arts performances and live events to take place all at the same time, including across specially built additional stages and venues.
Secretary of State for International Trade, The Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, opened the festival and other speakers included founder and chairman of the Sanpower Group, Yuan Yafei.
There were exclusive screenings of British TV exports like BBC’s Top Gear and Blue Planet; an exploration into new robot technologies showing how scaled-down machinery could transform food production by doing away with the need for big farm machinery; and even an art installation from Bompas and Parr allowing delegates to experience the London skyline paired with a gin and tonic infused fog.
Organisations represented at the GREAT Festival include HSBC, British Airways, PwC, Bloomberg, Fortnum and Mason, BT, De Montfort University, the Young Vic theatre, Blippar, Nissan and Ordnance Survey.
The third of its kind, the GREAT Festival of Innovation Hong Kong followed successful events in Istanbul (2014) and Shanghai (2015).
