The 20’s of this century will be the years of transition. We have been through a big wildcard, the coronavirus, which has shaken society, the economy, and our everyday life.  A wildcard = an event or series of events causing disruption and radical change. Historically, I have experienced 4 wildcards during my lifetime (with exception of natural disasters): the fall of communism in 1989, 9/11 in 2001 and the banking crisis of 2007-2011. Covid-19 is the fourth wildcards with a huge impact; the postcorona era is the start of a big mega transition. This transition is already in full swing and will increasingly revolve around three core themes.

1 / Transformation: the transformation of our society through technological, but we experience this transformation in our way of working, teaching, in production processes, etc. Transformation  is especially interesting from a business perspective because companies will have to adapt to more technology to make our lives more pleasant, safer, healthier, more exciting, more comfortable, etc. Transformation also has to do with the environment, the climate and living differently.

2 / Convenience is about ease of use, safety, shorter supply chains, local love, more experience and entertainment in our daily lives. Consumers resolutely choose for the contactless economy based on levels of security (contactless payment, contactless travel, contactless delivery, virtual experiences). This convenience is driven by the needs, values, and desires of consumers

3 / Connection is about connecting people, managing social contacts, struggling loneliness and the challenge lies in making and perpetuating lasting connections between people,  colleagues, companies, organizations, and even between countries. Fortunately, we see worldwide many initiatives that try to restore, enable and perpetuate connections.

These three axes of the future offer opportunities for companies, brands and products to respond to and innovate. Citizens, consumers, companies and organizations need confidence and perspective, but cannot miss the train and will have to adapt their lives, values, mission and vision to these three trends for the roaring transitional twenties

Language: English

Date: 30th of March 2021

Time: 7:00 PM Moscow Time Zone (Zoom)

For further information, please contact Murad Sadygzade, postgraduate student of the School of International Relations and Regional Studies, the HSE University (msadygzade@hse.ru)