On September 26 and 27, in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, one of Brazil's most important innovation meetings took place. The Conference of the National Association of Research and Development of Innovative Companies 2019 brought together around 1200 people and 200 speakers, including renowned leaders and international thinkers such as Patrick van der Pijl, author of Business Model Generation, Ezequiel Zylberberg from MIT, and Benjamin Reid from NESTA, the UK agency for innovation programs, among others.
The theme of the conference was “Innovation X.0,” which offers an interpretation of the current situation, characterized by enormous speed that renders the act of numbering (re)evolutions almost immediately obsolete, as the way to innovate is constantly evolving. From this perspective, the challenge is to innovate innovation itself, the way it occurs, and the impacts it generates.
Natura was present at different moments of the Conference. Roseli Mello, Director of Expanded Innovation, shared how culture and technology go hand in hand for a positive impact X.0 innovation. In the face of the era of anxiety on an individual level and the challenges of caring for the planet on a collective level, the more interaction and innovation we have, the greater the chance of finding the solutions we need. Natura adopts a multidimensional innovation model encompassing products, services, digitalization, Industry 4.0, collaboration networks, and sustainability for positive impact. All of this is supported by increasingly agile processes and a culture of intrapreneurship seeking people-centered innovation.
Daniel Gonzaga, Director of Product Innovation, presented one of the three best technology cases in products – Lumina, Pro-Web Biotechnology. The new line of hair products features an intelligent formula capable of acting on all layers of the hair strands: from the deepest level (inside the strands) to the surface, regenerating from the inside out. The results of using biotechnology for hair health are proven thanks to the use of micro-computed tomography for hair evaluation - a technique similar to the tomography used for diagnosis in medical exams. The results indicated a 70% reduction in hair porosity. It is worth noting that the Pro-Web technology was developed at the time in partnership with a German startup, AMSilk.
In addition to these contributions, Marcela Martinelli, innovation manager and Director of ANPEI, was a panelist in a debate led by Paulo Renato, head of innovation at SEBRAE Nacional, which addressed the interaction of large companies with startups and also featured the presence of Regenera, a startup partner of Natura. Paulo Castilho, from Natura's innovation team, was a judge on the panel of the “Like a Boss” competition held during the event, where startups present their business proposals to potential investors and partners.
With over 30 years, ANPEI has organized 18 conferences on innovation and brought together relevant actors from the ecosystem with the aim of stimulating research and development activities in companies, better policies and collaboration practices, and expanding innovation in the country.
