Futuretalk 2022: Times of global change

Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker is a scientist, politician, author, former co-president and current honorary president of the Club of Rome and former dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studied chemistry and physics in Hamburg and earned his doctorate in biology. Weizsäcker was Professor of Biology at the University of Essen, then President of the University of Kassel. He became Director of the UN Center for Science and Technology in New York, then Director of the Institute for European Environmental Policy in Bonn, Paris and London. For many years he was President of the Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy in Wuppertal. Weizsäcker was a member of the German Bundestag for the SPD for 7 years and also chaired the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He is the author of many books and has been awarded the German Environmental Prize. In his latest book "So reicht das nicht. Foreign policy, new economics, new enlightenment", he focuses on climate policy.

Doz. Dr. Andreas J. Obrecht is a sociologist, development researcher, author, presenter of the ORF-Ö1 live program Punkt Eins and the program Im Gespräch, head of the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (www.appear.at), a program to promote scientific cooperation in research and teaching between Austrian universities and scientific institutions in Africa, the Western Balkans and the Caucasus and head of the university cooperation network Africa UniNet (www.africa-uninet.at). Obrecht spent around 30 years teaching at universities and conducting field research in the South Pacific, sub-Saharan Africa and the Himalayas. He has published numerous scientific and literary books, most recently: APPEAR II. New pathways towards participative knowledge production through transnational and transcultural academic cooperation. Studienverlag, 2022 and Semolina. Dying, loving, living. Ibera publishing house, 2021.

Prof. Dr. Werner Beutelmeyer is a member of the board of directors, managing director and founder of the Market Institute, president of the Paul Lazarsfeld Society for Social Research, sits on the supervisory board of a pharmaceutical company and is a book author. Beutelmeyer studied business administration and computer science and has lectured for many years at the universities of Salzburg, Linz and Innsbruck. His research focuses on innovative market research methods, the economic relevance of sentiment barometers, changing values and consumer behavior. As the author of numerous publications and books, he is particularly well known for his book "Die Marke ICH".

A computer scientist by training, Helmut Fallmann is Chairman of the Management Board of the listed software company Fabasoft AG, which he co-founded in 1988. He relies on a modern understanding of IT as a driver of the digital competitiveness of a business location. To this end, he has developed a new business process ecosystem (PROCECO) with which companies can make themselves fit for the future by digitizing their business processes. business processes fit for the future. With the Entrepreneur Initiative, which he founded and which is supported by the daily newspaper Die Presse and EY supported by the daily newspaper Die Presse and EY, he offers young digital companies with market-relevant application solutions a strategic growth partnership. In addition to numerous civil society activities, the committed European is also a board member of the Federation of Austrian Industries.

Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Fallmann has been working on the automated understanding of huge amounts of data and artificial intelligence for over 20 years. In 2005, he founded Mindbreeze, now an internationally leading company in the field of applied artificial intelligence and enterprise search. In addition to his work as CEO, Fallmann is also an author for various specialist magazines such as Forbes.