The environment, integration, artificial intelligence, electronic money, training, online commerce, healthy habits, are now part of daily agenda of society. And they are also concepts that mark the path of companies, which they must incorporate, develop, to grow, to be sustainable in the broadest sense. This is the agenda of the topics that will develop in the cycle “The coming world” from Clarion this year. They will be a series of 12 conversations between officers, analysts, executives and researchers to find solutions to new challenges of companies.

Talks will begin on April 21 and end on December 1. They stream through the website Clarion and through newspaper channels on social networks. Articles about them will also be published in the print and online editions of the newspaper. The cycle is promoted by Osde, Telecom and the government of the City of Buenos Aires, in addition to the accompaniment of Afarte.

21st century society is not only asking for better products and prices from companies, but also honesty, transparency and commitment. Brands have gone from being commercial objects to social and political topics; the consumer asks companies -and entrepreneurs- empathy, solidarity, identity with human values ​​themselves. That is why the situations in which companies must operate every day are therefore more complex, dynamic, changing. And they require constant updating, strong flow of information, speed of adaptation. This permanent challenge crosses the agenda of “The world to come.”

-How to win the best talent. The first table of the cycle is about the rest it represents for companies that acquire one of the hardest assets in the world today, talent, highly qualified people, with technical, leadership, and organizational skills. With exchange rate differences, the challenge grows for Argentine companies, which in many cases must compete with job offers from abroad. Another axis would be remote work, which added options and difficulty. The benefits offered to employees will also be evaluated to produce a good “employer brand” image. And how and why in companies the area of ​​Human Resources has become Human Capital.

– Healthy Living. Covid placed health at the center of society’s debate. But before and after the pandemic, changing habits, leading to a healthier life, became one of the signs of the times. That will be the axis of the second conversation cycle, which covers a topic that includes conscious food, natural products, the labeling law, veganism, which is now part of the daily on the agenda. So are healthy exercise habits, the use of bicycles, in a country where 4 out of 10 children are overweight and where ultra-processed foods provide a quarter of the daily allowance. solar energy needed by humans, according to PAHO. The conversation will also focus on how companies work to improve these indicators, how these trends affect mass consumption, what new types of consumers are being formed, how Prevention is now a central axis of the health system.

– Digital nomads. Telecommuting, the home office, digital technology and internet access network enhancements have allowed the growth of a new generation of workers, who do not need to be organized in one place, who are traveling, who are moving, while working. This way, the City of Buenos Aires expects to receive at least 10,000 immigrants to live and work at CABA this year. In the same way, inland cities and those on the coast of Buenos Aires have attracted residents who have adopted this way of life. For companies, this also represents a challenge, as they must create and maintain work groups that include these remote employees. For another business segment, tourism, on the other hand, may represent an opportunity.

-Environmental responsibility. With extreme temperatures, droughts and floods, climate change is a major issue for 21st century society, and companies have included it in their agenda. This will be the theme of the fourth cycle talks, which is understood to now have companies requesting traceability in their inputs, measuring their carbon footprint, investing in projects to improve the environment, which recycle, which minimize the use of water or other non -renewable goods, which produce their own electricity, which only contract renewable energy. These are investments that improve business sustainability, but are also consumer demand, demanding environmental responsibility.

– Add them all. The fifth talk of the cycle is about integration. In Argentina, men now earn 30% more than women occupying the same position, according to the Observatory of Gender Policies of the Nation. But this is not the only thing: according to the National Agency for Disability, there are 5 million people in the country with some form of disability and 8 out of 10 of them are unemployed. Companies include gender equality, the inclusion of people with disabilities, and the inclusion of diversity as important issues on the 21st century agenda. These are the measures that characterize companies that now seek to add value to their management on dimensions beyond business and profitability. The table will discuss what Human Resources programs have been developed to bring together minorities, how this management has enriched governance and what difficulties and opportunities they have encountered.

– The electronic money revolution. In the second quarter of 2021, for the first time, debit cards were used more in Argentina to make payments than to withdraw cash from ATMs, according to the Prism Report on the method of payment. This is proof of how electronic money continues to replace banknotes, the axis of the sixth conversation in the “The World to Come” cycle. Looking to the future, SuperApps, which brings together a variety of digital offers and services, is expected to grow; QR code payments, which will be normalized nationwide in 2021; Peer-to-peer payments, direct transfers between people; virtual prepaid card, virtual wallet. All these trends will set the pace for the financial business, but also for companies seeking to be closer to the consumer.

– The cell phone is a mall. The seventh conversation cycle will focus on e-commerce, which already represents more than 10% of all end-consumer sales, according to studies by the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce. In a work done by that association and consulting firm Kantar, they estimate that in the first half of 2021, electronic sales will exceed US $ 6.4 billion. The main reason is the strong growth in the number of transactions: from 25 million in the first half of 2020 to 80 million in the same period of 2021. The expansion of new payment systems, such as cards for social plans, has caused the public to expand towards the base of the pyramid of consumption. Another challenge for companies, which must adapt to the new scenario.

– Future professions. Capacities to deal with the labor market are changing more and more rapidly; companies are faced with human resource needs that are often unmatched by education. That will be the theme of the eighth speech of “The world to come.” Includes the debate that educational institutions need to handle this request and the official regulations at the same time, how companies and colleges/universities are talking to improve the response, how this dialogue affects productivity of the country. Without neglecting which careers are most in demand today from companies and attracting more students.

– From big data to artificial intelligence. In 2017, The Economist published an article titled “The world’s most important resource is no longer oil, but data.” The idea soon evolved, and in business circles it was stated: “Data is the oxygen of the digital economy.” Since then, the business world has increasingly focused on information, on data. The axis of the ninth conversation cycle is how Big data has become the source of custom product design, of early and accurate market definition, of consumer segmentation on a detailed level; how artificial intelligence is the tool that accompanies this trend, allowing the creation of more useful information, and the development of more products and services. Cases will examine how companies apply these resources.

– Innovative research. Technology is the axis of work of most companies. An effort that is not always visible, but drives the business and development dimension of the country. The tenth table of “The World to Come” will discuss this topic, on healthier foods, medicines that solve urgent health problems, robots, automation, computer systems, renewable energies; about how products and services are made the latest part of science. But also about the challenge of investing in science and technology in Argentina, of medium and long term planning, of the quality of local scientists and training of workers, as well as about the limit of the number of High ratings available in the market.

– The millennial challenge. In Argentina there are 18 million inhabitants under the age of 25, according to INDEC. They are 40% of the population, a central market for mass consumption companies. They are people with strong access to digital life, with a commitment to environmental and social goals, with their own codes and cultural content. What motivates these consumers, what strategies companies apply to reach them, to communicate with that audience will be the theme of the 11th cycle table.

– The Age of Conversation. Social networks have radically changed the form of communication, ceasing to be unidirectional to better establish itself as a form of dialogue. The final talk of “The coming world” will deal with how today’s companies must listen to society at all times to see difficulties and opportunities. It is no longer enough to issue a message, now it is necessary to communicate with the client. In this scenario, social media strategies, customer service, quantitative and qualitative market studies are important inputs for companies.

“The coming world” will be a cycle where answers will be sought on the agenda of challenges facing companies, where success stories will be reviewed, where regulatory and market frameworks will be debated, where they will be shared the experiences. From April 19, it is possible to follow it on the online page, in the print edition and on Clarín’s social networks.