On July 8th 2011, Diogo Vasconcelos sadly and tragically passed away. All of use at Maslaha were shocked by this news, and greatly saddened by the loss of a great man.
Diogo has had many tributes paid to him, but perhaps one which is closest to our hearts is that written by Lousie Pulford, close friend and colleague to Diogo at the Social Innovation Exchange, as quoted below.
"On Friday 8 July, the global community of social innovation lost one of its forefathers. Although his reach, impact and passion was felt globally, Diogo Vasconcelos was a European.
Reading Diogo’s extensive CV, it is almost impossible to believe that he was just 43 years old. He had already had numerous ministerial and political roles in Portugal, he founded and led UMIC—the Portuguese Knowledge Society Agency—where he created and lead the implementation of the eGoverment Action Plan and the National Broadband Initiative, as well as more recently becoming a Distinguished Fellow with Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), the global strategy and innovation group of Cisco.
Alongside his ‘day job’, Diogo was passionate about spreading social innovation all over the world – he was particularly excited by Brazil and Latin America, and more recently the middle East and North Africa. At the time of his unfair and early death, Diogo was also Chair of the global Dialogue Café initiative, and Chair of the SIX network, which is leading the consortium responsible for running SIE.
On top of all of this, Diogo made time to root himself deeply in Brussels, holding numerous roles including moderator of landmark sessions discussing the future of innovation funding (http://ec.europa.eu/research/csfri/index_en.cfm?pg=events), and his recent appointment as expert member of the "smart specialisation platform” created by the communication "Regional policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020". These we just two of Diogo’s commitments in Europe in June 2011. Each month, I know there were many more.
It is through involvement in such initiatives that he was able to play an instrumental role in persuading the European Commission to make social innovation a priority in the EU2020 strategy flagship initiative ‘ the Innovation Union’
I remember the day the Innovation Union was approved in October last year, Diogo emailed me, filled with excitement. He was excited that Europe was embracing a boarder concept of innovation, as the business panel he had chaired had recommended (report “Reinventing Europe Thought Innovation” ). He was excited that Europe would focus its efforts on societal challengeslike climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population, in particular. And he was excited about new possibilities for meaningfully engaging public and private sectors in our mission. When SIX won the contract to run the Social Innovation Union initiative, Diogo’s excitement was again infectious. I could almost see his eyes glaze over immediately, as he started imagining the possibilities of what we could achieve next.
This is how we worked.
Within minutes, Diogo could switch from this kind of big picture strategy to tiny details of an event – details which would enhance individual participant’s experiences during a lunch break. It was Diogo’s ability to so naturally think macro and micro simultaneously that kept me on my toes. He has certainly left us with a lot of work to do now….
Diogo believed whole heartedly in the Innovation Union. He told me that it was a very important step for Europe with the potential of having a deep and lasting impact. Diogo played a decisive role getting social innovation this far, and it is our duty, together, to continue with the work he instigated. As I know Diogo would say, this is just the beginning...
How did one man achieve so much? Diogo was exceptional, not least in the manner and personality which were instrumental to his extraordinary effectiveness. As has already been remarked – he sprinkled magic wherever he went. He was humble kind and unassuming. He was passionate, focussed and always sharing. He had gravitas but was also gentle. It is this unique combination of qualities that enabled him to achieve so much and touch so many.
You can view obituaries from the President of Portugal here, and from President Barroso here. For more reflections and tributes for Diogo, please see the SIX website, SIG, Dialogue Cafe, and Al Etmanski."
