Release of 09.10.2013
Vienna, October 8, 2013 - Sir Richard Branson is a successful entrepreneur, who understands like no other how to best combine innovation spirit and entrepreneurship with ecological and social commitment. At this year’s future.talk of the Telekom Austria Group entitled “The Pioneer Effect. New Spirit For A New Tomorrow.“ he inspired more than 600 guests with his passion and with numerous concrete examples of his credo “Do good, have fun and the money will come“. Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO Telekom Austria Group and A1, engaged in a lively discussion with Sir Richard Branson on how more and more companies can be persuaded to co-shape the future in a responsible manner through sustainable business management.“If every single business became a force for good, we’d get on top of most of the problems.” With this sentence Sir Richard Branson won a lot of applause in the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna. He is indeed the best ambassador for this new approach, with which more and more companies are doing business across the world. Striving for quick profits is not the primary focus but rather the well-being of society and the protection of the environment. The founder of the Virgin Group applies this principle not only to his own companies but he also founded “Virgin Unite”, a non-profit foundation, which has set itself the task of uniting ideas and people who want to make a change. Its initiatives include the “Elders”, a kind of council where prominent people are working together for human rights and peace, led by former UN General Secretary Kofi Anan. In his think thank “The B Team” business ideas are supported which provide solutions for a future worth living in.
“Do good, have fun and the money will come”Sir Richard Branson presented himself at the future.talk 2013 both as a visionary thinker, who advocates a major paradigm shift, and as a pragmatic businessman, who knows how to effectively implement entrepreneurial projects. For Hannes Ametsreiter, this is exactly the spirit that can make the greatest impact: “As a leading international corporation, we are not only an economic factor but we play a much more significant role. We have many powerful levers we can pull to co-shape a sustainable future. The networking between people and things through Internet technologies has an incredibly high potential to help design processes in a more efficient and thus more ecological manner. It also provides the basis for a more easy access to information and participation in political decision-making. We have a wide range of projects and measures currently in place to promote this in a targeted manner,“ said Hannes Ametsreiter.
A recent example is the creation of a photovoltaic park at the company’s earth station in Aflenz in Styria. This plant will make a significant contribution to meeting the energy demands of the company’s satellite installation. Another example is the education initiative “A1 Internet for All”, with which the Telekom Austria Group’s domestic subsidiary A1 has promoted numerous activities across Austria over the past two years to help socioeconomically deprived people take part in the information, knowledge-based and network society, while fostering their media literacy.
“It is of paramount importance to be always open to new ideas and suggestions. If we take our job seriously, as a company, we have to constantly look out for new solutions to be able to develop our core business in an economically, ecologically and socially sustainable manner. We also have to create an environment, where people have the opportunity to turn their ideas for a better world into reality,“ said Hannes Ametsreiter describing Richard Branson’s credo “Doing business like there is a tomorrow”.
A Sustainable EveningTelekom Austria Group’s future.talk 2013 took place in the Halle E of the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna, impressing its guests with an innovative event design. Special attention was shown for the entrance of the Halle E directly in front of the courtyard of the MuseumsQuartier and for the round screens that showed video clips and what happened on stage. Annina Campell, the Swiss moderator of SRF and Servus TV, hosted the event, which was centered upon sustainability not only in terms of the contents presented. The whole event was organized in compliance with the criteria for "The Austrian Eco Label for Green Meetings/Green Events". The guests received free day tickets for Vienna public transport to get to the event, the catering was 100% regional and seasonal. Event details were predominantly communicated via emails. This special focus on sustainability was also reflected in the event design. The vinyl banners used for the future.talk were turned into high-value design bags by the “heidenpass” association, a community employment project that supports young people in difficult situations and helps them integrate into working life.
More than 600 guests participated in the event.
All details about future.talk 2013 are available at
futuretalk.comPhoto material of the event future.talk 2013 are available at
our photo archiveAbout future.talkTelekom Austria Group’s future.talk 2013 takes place for the 13th time in a row. The aim of the event is to search for new trends and discuss current and future social developments. Guests of former future.talk events were WWW-inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan and former US Vice President Al Gore.
Sustainability at the Telekom Austria GroupResponsibility at the Telekom Austria Group means to deploy our core business in the best possible way for the benefit of society, our customers, and our employees. In concrete terms, this means that the operating companies of the Telekom Austria Group not only promote the use of sustainable technologies and alternative energy sources but seek to enable the full participation and inclusion of as many people as possible in the knowledge-society.For more details see
our sustainability report