Cyprus 4.0: Be at the dawn of change — GetForward

GetForward connects people, cultures, entrepreneurs, and businesses with long-term mindsets eager to grasp the future. It acts as the springboard to empower decisions that lead to a better tomorrow.

The heart of GetForward is an international team that operates across Europe. The aim is to provide insights that help guide our audience to navigate future literacy with action-inspiring stories, lessons, and events,” says GetForward CEO Paul Koronis.

The GetForward Project emerged from Limassol’s Reflect Festival. Reflect is a future casting festival for those who want to shape the future irrespective of their background and experience.

“Cyprus is a great place. I was impressed by the global nature of the speakers and attendees of Reflect Festival,” comments Sujay Tyle. Co-Founder and CEO at Merama and Venture Partner at Balderton Capital.

“With roots in Cyprus, reaching way beyond, this event connects businesspeople, corporates, startups, academia, entrepreneurs, students, and tech and science enthusiasts,” explains GetForward CEO Paul Koronis, who has been following the festival since it started in 2018. Reflect Festival was co-founded by Stylianos Lambrou, Dusan Duffek and Andria Lambrou in 2017, creating an area that brings together doers and shapes the future.

GetForward extends the Reflect project into the area of future literacy.

“What does it mean by being future literate? It means that one is able to take into consideration the potential futures, not in terms of prediction, but in terms of using foresight, using skills, and mapping those in such a way that one would be able to construct models in order to react and grasp opportunities, even within a crisis mode.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a huge challenge. Perhaps the way that we dealt with it as humanity was slow and could have been more appropriate to the situation. We could have been more prepared and ready to take more immediate actions. When considering future ideologies individuals can utilize foresight not merely to be prepared, but to actually be in a situation where actions to be taken will provide outcomes that will be positive, for communities, businesses and governance,” Koronis says.

Koronis grew up in Cyprus, then studied Natural Sciences (Psychology and Anthropology) at the University of Durham in the UK. After that he took a master’s degree in international management and marketing.

“And there the whole journey started in terms of how these can be combined integrating consumer psychology and group dynamics. I moved back to Cyprus in the early 2000s. After working in the B2B area, I went into finance and banking,” Koronis then joined a digital agency where he was responsible for client servicing, and also for project management. He worked in both B2B and B2C ecommerce.

“And then, not long ago, just before the end of last year, I saw that there was a new vision evolving out of the Reflect Festival.”

GetForward will also produce innovative events. Among them, there will be a summit titled “Pause”, in which people will have the opportunity to come to the summit and connect with individuals, giving them a break from their everyday work life, without taking away the dimension of being able to network with other peers in industry or other industries. “Pause” Summit is an amalgamation of impactful talks, performances, arts and wellness.

And then there will be the “Explore Conversations,” half-day events, in selected locations initially across Cyprus with up to 50 participants for open discussions, experience sharing and valuable dialogues which are intended to result in meaningful exchanges.

“And if you see the verbs that GetForward is using – i.e. Pause, Explore, Reflect – this is to indicate that individuals need to explore the options they have, and to reflect upon what they and others have been doing. And one needs to pause. But in that pause, you can still connect meaningfully with the ideas and individuals who are with you,” Koronis notes.

The GetForward pillars take into consideration how the future will be looking for both B2B and B2C rapports. There is a strong situation where gaps need to be bridged. Aside from the events being produced, GetForward provides an online area which houses media in the form of articles, and soon videos and podcasts. For its education pillar, GetForward has designed and curated its first seminar and workshop which is titled “Build a Future Literate Organisation”. At the seminar, the participants will have the opportunity to explore how the changing world continues to challenge organisations. This seminar provides the opportunity to enhance competencies that help us manage change and broaden deep thinking about the future. Organisations benefit from a futures-literate workforce who are more adaptable, agile and receptive to change.

“We, at GetForward, enjoy bridging gaps and connecting individuals and businesses to create synergies through opportunities. And this is something that we do through our media, event and also through our education areas.”