Inovar é pensar diferente, é trabalhar em rede. Com novas formas de participação, criando uma sociedade que permita a cada um desenvolver todo o seu potencial. Com o poder da Internet ao serviço do mundo, para dar resposta às coisas mais prementes. Porque a "tecnologia não resolve problemas, as pessoas sim". Desde sempre um defensor acérrimo da mudança no nosso País, a sua visão está hoje, mais do que nunca, na ordem do dia. Inovação, globalização, novos desafios, mudança radical, talento, trabalho em rede e empreendedorismo sempre foram temas críticos.

Há pouco menos de um ano atrás, na sua última entrevista, dizia: "está na altura de Portugal fazer um restart, de usar a crise como oportunidade. Outras nações foram capazes de o fazer com sucesso. Isso implica uma nova política económica que coloque a inovação como tema central na estratégia de recuperação. Não basta reparar os erros do passado, é preciso construir o futuro." Era um acérrimo defensor da necessidade da Europa mobilizar a capacidade coletiva para melhorar a capacidade de inovação, criando novos modelos de prestação de serviços e novos modelos de negócio para responder a grandes desafios sociais em áreas como a saúde, educação, envelhecimento ou alterações climáticas. Sempre com a noção de que, com as TIC, "é possível criar produtos globais, feitos por talento global, para responder a necessidades globais de um mercado global. Nenhum país é à partida, demasiado pequeno ou periférico". E sendo necessário cortar custos, terá de se introduzir novas formas de fazer, com a abertura da cadeia de valor, e novos modelos de serviço público.

Diogo Vasconcelos faleceu repentinamente, aos 43 anos, na madrugada de 8 de Julho do ano passado. O presidente da APDC no mandado 2008/2010, onde sempre defendeu a necessidade de conjugar inovação tecnológica com inovação social, com forte colaboração entre empresas, estado, autarquias e economia social, faria hoje 44 anos.

Relembramos aqui algumas palavras do seu colega e amigo Simon Willis, que tão bem o descrevem:
 
"This contempt for the impossible extended deep into his work to improve society, his passionate animation by the possibilities of the future. He was at heart a visionary, an innovator and an entrepreneur - one of the most common of his recent phrases ‘we have to fix the future!' and his approach was to combine the philosophical and conceptual with the local and practical. He believed as many visionaries have that huge change could come from small groups of well motivated people working together at the local level. His excitement and deep understanding of the Arab spring (he had of course immediately made friends with a number of the key activists in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere) was based on this profound optimism about what ordinary people could achieve together.
He felt that his birth in May of 1968 meant something - that his life was lit from inside by the hope and radicalism of the Paris spring.  The traditional divisions of left and right were laughable to him - he relished difference as a challenge to find common ground and make real positive change. And he was a disruptive force - like all true innovators. He was of course fascinated by disruptive innovation and loved to describe himself as a neo-schumpeterian. But he himself was a disruptive innovative force - leaving no situation or room he entered quite the same. (...)
As a friend and colleague that you could rely on he was beyond compare. He was warm, gentle, funny and kind. For a man driven to change the world he was surprisingly mischievous and even silly. But at the same time took seriously the ordinary decencies of day to day life, politeness, respect, gratitude. (...) You always left him feeling lighter and more hopeful than when you met.  People felt lucky to know him or privileged. This is partly because he was so fundamentally generous. Generous with his time, his ideas, his networks and contacts, generous with his readings and his books, with his compliments, generous with his warmth and affection.
This meant that he ended up as a friend of ours said recently always in your mental landscape - your thinking was deepened, your sense of possibility expanded.  His range of interests and passions is impossible to summarise; food, music, jazz, Norway, technology (Diogo could not have too many channels of communication!) America, Africa, islam, democracy and so on and so on. He was fascinated - he was intensely engaged with the world and constantly delighted by what he discovered there. I want to try and remember.....
If you trust people you will discover what they have to offer.
Respect the fundamental humanity in all people equally.
Inspire by example.
Live as if you are as good as you can be.
An idea only becomes interesting if you take personal responsibility for using it to make some small positive change in the world.
We far more often limit our possibilities by aiming too low rather than too high. (Diogo was always saying ‘lets put a man on the moon!!')
(...) Diogo. We miss you so much."

Simon Willis, Vice President and Global Public Sector Practice - Internet Business Solutions Group da Cisco