Innovation is global hence knowledge transfer must also be global

ASTP-Proton President, Henric Rhedin offers you a warm welcome to join us in Guimarães for the 2017 Fall Meeting, 22-24 November.

“Delivering Innovation”, is the title of the ASTP-Proton Fall Meeting in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Guimarães in Portugal. As we take our meetings around Europe, this time last year we met in Stockholm, “At the Top of the World where almost no one has been”, we aim to demonstrate the many faces of knowledge transfer on the continent and the relevance of our organisation to the growing international community.

On the face of it, we come from different cultures and work in different conditions, but as the world of work becomes increasingly globalised the benefits of organisations like ours, which believes in collaboration and learning from each other, becomes more significant. Innovation is global hence knowledge transfer must also be global.

The Fall Meeting is built around a workshop format where participation is the key. Delivering Innovation does not come about without hard work, but the joy of working together relieves part of that burden and brings value to cooperative learning and building experience that will be useful for the future. We hope that you have come to Guimarães filled with anticipation and energy and leave equipped with better knowledge, contacts, and insights that you and your organisation can benefit from.

The concept builds on you contributing with your knowledge and enthusiasm but you can also shape forthcoming programmes by providing ideas for the future. Please share with us topics of interest, discussions that you feel are urgent, or just ideas that can help us improve together. Our programming committee, together with Headquarters and our local host, make an extraordinary effort for us to enjoy these days together, but they crave our active input and support. I would also like to thank the Portuguese Innovation Agency (ANI) for their support in sponsoring this event.

One urgent and current matter is changing the name of our organisation and we would love you all to participate in an active discussion regarding this topic. Which brand will help make ASTP-Proton take a leap into the future? While we need to reflect our past, we have to consider how to evolve into something even more relevant, active, and attractive of support and participation. We, the professionals, must together shape the future of our profession.

I look forward to a great Fall Meeting where active participation is the key ingredient, welcome!