Today, Dassault Systèmes kicked off our second annual Design in the Age of Experience conference in Milan.  Designers, innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world gathered to hear about new ways to create business opportunities by shifting from products to experiences, while drawing inspiration from nature and our social ecosystem.

The 2-day agenda is jam-packed with Design leaders and influencers discussing, sharing and debating the future of Design.  It it centered around 4 key themes:

1. Designing Experiences: only by reducing the distance between real and virtual to zero can you to build and experience the future
2. Design is the Business Plan: Design allows you to reinvent the way you interact with your customers
3. Design is Tribes: Design is collaborative and social
4. Design is Science-Driven: inspired by the beauty of nature.

There are also some hands-on components – a Hackathon and our 3DEXPERIENCE Playground.  Discover more about all of today’s happenings by reading this ‘best of’ set of Tweets.

Several of our speakers highlighted the lasting impact of Milan local Leonardo da Vinci – citing how, just like the Designs of today, his work drew inspiration from nature and science.

Keynote speaker – and TED Talk alum – Parag Khanna talked about the future of cities, and the role Design will play in developing the necessary infrastructure to handle explosive urban growth and in improving the experiences of citizens.

Dassault Systèmes’ Vice President of Design, Anne Asensio, took the stage with Honda/Acura’s Dave Marek and Teague’s John Barratt for a panel on why Design must – more than ever before – be considered as a strategic advantage.

Throughout the day, inspiring speakers from organizations including Copenhagen Institute Interaction Design, Delft Hyperloop, Freight Farms, Joby Aviation, Lunar,Meta, Nagoya City University Hospital, Nanyang Polytechnic, Rimac and SHoP Architects shared insights about the future of Design and the positive impact well-done Design can have on our world.  A sampling of their topics:

DS speakers also pointed out how many products Designed in our 3DEXPERIENCE platform are impacting the world.  In addition to the example below, 90% of the cars in the world are either engineered or built using the 3DEXPERIENCE platofrm and more than 2/3 of the consumer electronics like the ones most awarded at the Consumer Electronics Show are designed and built using DS solutions.

At the end of the day, Dassault Systèmes CEO and Vice Chairman Bernard Charlès and EVP and Chief Strategy Officer Monica Menghini took to the stage to share their perspectives on the critical role that Design plays in forming the experiences that can change our world.

During breaks and at the close of the day, attendees were able to hang out in the 3DEXPERIENCE Playground to get a hands-on look at the trends and cutting-edge technology that can transform businesses for success in the Age of Experience.

In parting, here are a few reflections from attendees.

Check back tomorrow for a recap of the closing day, including the results of a 24-hour hackathon where 6 teams have been up all night competing to create the most innovative architectural design!  (Can’t wait? Steal a sneak peak of what they’ve been up to!)