Press Release

Knowledge of Design Week 2017

 Tackling Big Challenges & Seeking Opportunities through Inclusive Design

(14 June 2017, Hong Kong) Organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre, with Create Hong Kong as the major sponsor, Knowledge of Design Week 2017 (KODW 2017) launched today officially. Guests of Honour Mr Gregory SO Kam-Leung, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, with officiating guests included Dr Paul Thompson, Rector, Royal College of Art, Prof Cees de Bont, Dean of School, School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Mr Leslie Lu, Principal, Hong Kong Design Institute, and Mr Rama Gheerawo, Director, The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art unveiled the Opening Ceremony of the event.

More than 20 heavy-weight, internationally acclaimed experts have been invited to participate in this five-day event with 3 forums with case studies, 6 workshops and 2 In Conversation with Design Masters Series. Themed “Include 2017: Tackling Big Challenges through Design”, this year KODW explored how we deal with society’s toughest issues under the topics of “Living”, “Connecting” and “Moving”. Through a future-facing approach, the audience learned how to apply design thinking to tackle everyday challenges, opening up new business opportunity and experience through Inclusive Design.

Mr Gregory SO Kam-Leung, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development said, “Given the importance of design to our community, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has not shied away from rendering support for the sector. By sponsoring platforms like KODW this week and the Business of Design Week later this year that attract a wide spectrum of participating sectors, we not only promote knowledge exchange among designers but also encourage cross-disciplinary conversation and cross-sector collaboration.”

Prof. Eric Yim, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre said, “This year, KODW will have a wider scope of topics, from individual and community health to mobility, from policy formulation to problem solving using technologies. With featured case studies, KODW demonstrates how good designs help solving social issues with elements such as people-centred approach, application of big data, digital and various innovative technologies.”

Speakers of KODW 2017 included Rama Gheerawo, Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art; Sean Donahue, MDP+FIELD, ArtCenter College of Design; Andrew Mead, Chief Architect (ARBUK) of MTR Corporation Limited; Stacey Chang, Executive Director of Design Institute for Health, University of Texas at Austin; Takeshi Go, Project Chief Designer of Toyota Compact Car Company, Toyota Motor Corporation; Dan Toon, Functional Design Lead, Design Group of McLaren Applied Technologies; and Gary Chang, Founder & Managing Director of EDGE Design Institute Ltd.

3 Themed Forums
 

Themed as “Living”, “Connecting” and “Moving” respectively, around 20 speakers from around the world shared ideas on how inclusive design can effectively create both social impact and business value. The “Living” forum explores two global issues — ageing and health care. In this forum, speaker Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, Senior Political Advisor of The Conservative Party of Norway presented “More Years More Opportunities”, unearthing the opportunities brought by active ageing; while Stacey Chang, Executive Director of Design Institute for Health, University of Texas at Austin presented “Health through Community – A Design Collaboration”, explaining how to apply people-centred design to promote health and community well-being. This “Living” Forum also includes four other case studies.

The “Connecting” Forum explored the application and merits of digital technology. Piotr Łój, Owner of Virtual Dream Foundation, shared his view on the potential and risks of new, emerging technology in his talk “Human 2.0 – Virtual Reality Potential and Risks in Social Inclusion”. Dan Toon, Functional Design Lead, Design Group of McLaren Applied Technologies, demonstrated how the health and welfare of people can benefit from data-driven design. Other case studies will also be shared in this forum.

The “Moving” Forum focuses on how smart mobility is enabled by new, emerging technology. Presenting on “Designing Mobility Ecosystems”, Jonah Houston, Portfolio Lead of Mobility, IDEO presented the new social mobility trend amidst the digital technology era. Furthermore, Takeshi Go, Project Chief Designer of Toyota Compact Car Company, Toyota Motor Corporation, talked about the new UD Toyota Taxi.

Six Workshops
 

With experiential activities, case study sharing and research, these six workshops aim at facilitating a detailed understanding of global trends, and stimulating innovative ideas. Hosts such as Per Kristiansen, Partner of Trivium, demonstrated how LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method could be applied to corporate training and leadership training. Co-hosted by Sean Donahue from the US and Chris McGinley, Research Leader of The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art, “Design Safari: A Practical Workshop in Design Thinking and Design Doing!” included a field trip to a senior citizen centre and addressed how to use people-centred creative process to address people with diverse needs. In addition, Wesley Grubbs, Founder of Pitch Interactive, Inc. will host another workshop known as “Seeing the World with Data Visualisation Glasses”, during which he will deconstruct the process of data visualisation.

KODW 2017 included participants showed keen interest and desire for innovation regardless of nationality. For more details, please visit official website (2017.kodw.org), WeChat account (HKDC) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/kodwhkdc/?fref=ts)

Organiser: Hong Kong Design Centre

Major Sponsor: Create Hong Kong

Co-organiser and Strategic Programme Partner: The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art

Co-organisers: Poly U School of Design | Hong Kong Design Institute

Photo Caption
 

 
1. Group photo of Mr Gregory SO Kam-Leung, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Middle), Eric Yim, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre (Left 4), Dr. Edmund Lee, Executive Director of Hong Kong Design Centre (Left 1) and the officiating guests.
    
   

 

2. Mr Gregory SO Kam-Leung, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development gave a speech at opening ceremony of Knowledge of Design Week 2017.

    

   

 

3. The guests and participants attended the opening ceremony of Knowledge of Design Week 2017 organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre, with Create Hong Kong as the major sponsor.

About Knowledge of Design Week

Since 2006, KODW is an annual thematic programme that gathers the global design community to explore the big design debates of today, offers an opportunity for us all to engage in a dialogue on how design can solve complex challenges of our society.

By integrating ethnographic user researches, big data-driven insights, and emerging trends and technologies across a range of macro topics – think ageing, public service, city livability, health and well-being, and various areas of social concerns,- KODW seeks to foster cross-disciplinary learning and exchange through forums, roundtable, case studies and workshops.

Beyond translating knowledge into new practices to inspire human-centric innovations for tomorrow, KODW has also been proven to be an invaluable knowledge sharing platform, connecting global field experts, policy makers, industry leaders and curious minds across academia, creative and business communities.

Bridging knowledge with practices to help today’s businesses and societies, KODW is determined to unearth the untapped potential and compelling impact of design for individuals, communities, enterprises and cities.

About the Hong Kong Design Centre

Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is a non-profit organisation founded in 2001 as a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in establishing Hong Kong as centre of design excellence in Asia. HKDC continues its public mission in using design and innovation to drive value creation of business development and improve the well-being of society, through the provision of diverse exchange platforms, anchored by five major work directions: CONNECT, CELEBRATE, NURTURE, ADVANCE and ENGAGE.

HKDC’s flagship programmes include Business of Design Week (since 2002) – Asia’s leading annual conference and event on Design, Innovation and Brands; DFA Awards (since 2003) – the most recognised design awards from an Asia perspective; Design Incubation Programme (since 2012) and Fashion Incubation Programme (since 2017) –  2-year incubation programmes to nurture future design and fashion entrepreneurs; FASHION ASIA HONGKONG (since 2016) – a new initiative combining conversations, interactions and cultural exchanges to energise the city’s image, and positioning it as an Asian hub for fashion trade and business development; Knowledge of Design Week (since 2006) – an annual thematic design knowledge sharing platform on how design can solve complex challenges of our society.

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