The countdown of the 4th edition of Imagine Express is already unstoppable. The 5,000-minute journey will come to an end today. This afternoon, at 6:00 pm, the five winning teams of the Imagine Express 2017 hackatrain will present at the 4 Years From Now (4YFN) Nestlé Stage the mobile apps developed during their intense disruptive innovation adventure between the cities of Barcelona, Paris and London.
To end this special day, for both dreamers and Imagine Express 2017 staff, we spoke with David Domingo, 4YFN Content Manager, to explain his experience as a jury and as a partner in this disruptive innovation program.
David, you participated as a jury in the live selection of one of the dreamers, what qualities or skills do you think a dreamer should have to get on the mobile apps train?
I was in the selection of dreamer for Business category and the qualities that I valued most were the self confidence to achieve a goal, teamwork and energy. Knowledge of the world of business, technology and economy is difficult to assess in such a short time and for me they are secondary in processes of creativity and innovation like Imagine Express.
What does Imagine Creativity Center contribute to 4YFN?
The final Imagine Express presentation event is always welcome in the 4YFN Barcelona program because it brings a flow of creativity and fresh ideas into a pre-startup state that enriches the event. In addition, we lower the average age of the attendees 😉
This year is the 4th edition of 4YFN and also the 4th edition of Imagine Express, what balance do you make of these four years of 4YFN? What happened at this time?
4YFN was born as a project of the Mobile World Capital Foundation to organize a complementary event to the Mobile World Congress for the entire startup ecosystem that flourished in Barcelona 4 years ago. Now it is a global business platform that will hold 7 events on 3 continents during 2017, as well as other innovation and business projects for startups, investors and corporations.
4YFN has its own identity beyond the Mobile World Congress, although we are also very well working with them in their congresses around the world.
The growth of 4YFN has followed the same evolution and emergence as the startup ecosystem of Barcelona in recent years, which reflects that we are in a good moment, although there is still much to do to reach all the potential that can have the city As an innovation hub.
How do you see 4YFN in four years?
In the next 4 years, our objective is to globalize the platform and geographically still further to support more startups and ecosystems, and to interconnect them, always with Barcelona as a base for the import and export of innovation. We also want to create an active and committed mass of members not only with their projects, but with the community in order to lead technological innovation.
And, of course, in four years I hope to be able to hold a 4YFN Barcelona 2021 event that occupies 8 halls of Fira Montjuïc and … welcome to the 8th edition of Imagine Express!
