How a 500 year old principle of duality in science & art is changing technology marketing during the COVID pandemic.
And why Spherity is looking for world-class artists with passion to improve the state of Germany.
Five hundred years ago Leonardo Da Vinci, an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived, taught us:
“To develop a complete mind: study the art of science; study the science of art. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
Enlightenment driven by Duality
Taking two opposites and entangling them together in order to create a complete vision of the whole and something new is at the core of Leonardo’s thinking. When we step back and try to see the “bigger picture” we realize that everything is a game of opposites. We live in the world of duality.
A lot of Leonardo’s work was enlightened by the Duality of Science and Art: The study of opposite fields and the combination of insights to discover something groundbreaking new and bringing human innovation to an entirely new level.
However, the essence of each opposite — technology and art — lies at its opposite’s core: Only by knowing the wholeness of both sides we can realize that they are actually one “coin”. Only by knowing the wholeness of a thing, we can go beyond and use it with its true potential. We live in a world of duality but our purpose is to find opposites, connect them and create oneness. [1]
Marketing Innovation: Rapper Smudo and the Luca App
Now, at a critical stage of the COVID pandemic and Germany’s governmental crisis, Da Vinci’s words are echoing again these days all over our national media channels in a slightly different manner but in the same context:
Few days ago German Rapper Smudo demonstrated the functionality of the so called “Luca” app on his smartphone. Together with the Sylt Marketing Gesellschaft, the member of the band “Die Fantastischen 4” presented the app for contact tracing in the case of COVID infections.
The App itself is a well designed start-up App. There is a lot of process innovation and integration delivered by the App itself. What takes the App even further apart from all the many other COVID Apps is not only a simple marketing innovation by leveraging the media reach of one of Germany’s most well-known Artists. It is the duality of art and science (aka technology).
Many artists, event industry, wellness and restaurant employees are suffering during the COVID pandemic, because their businesses are locked-down . Many of small business owners, freelancers and employees do not have jobs, have limited monthly paychecks and are struggling to survive. As an artist Rapper Smudo is perfectly understanding, articulating and representing these problems. This is why Smudo was so authentic and passionate to leverage his problem insights, media reach reach and personal reputation to help a solution for the COVID pandemic to evolve.
Combining the problems of artists with a digital technology solution and Smudos reach, something groundbreaking new was created. This time Leonardo’s Duality created a far reaching media blitz for a previously unknown technology start-up and unlocked significant, state-level support to solve a far reaching problem.
Unprecedented Media Blitz
The reach and impact of the media blitz was unprecedented for Germany so far:
- Introduction of the App at the Germany’s high society hot spot on the Island of Sylt to help local business to re-open. This place was very well choose as high society is always getting nice media attention.
- Smudo got air time in lot of Germany’s media channels and late night talk shows. Many German newspapers picked up the story early on when the story just started to develop.
- At the meeting of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group , North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister President Armin Laschet, German politician serving as the Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and elected as the Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), mentioned the Luca app. The time it takes to record contacts would be well shortened with the app and the follow-up would be accelerated. That could help. He had already spoken to Smudo on the phone about this.
- Jens Spahn, German politician currently serving as Federal Minister of Health in the fourth Merkel cabinet, is said to have already spoken with Smudo, but without committing himself. Laschet saw it as an advantage that the Luca app is linked to the Sormas system (“Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System”) of the health offices. This, in turn, is supposed to be used in all health offices by the end of February, but according to the Ministry of Health, only 151 of the total of 376 offices have been connected to the digital system so far. Moreover, its use is not obligatory because the offices can decide for themselves which contact tracking system they want to use.
- Armin Laschet is further promoting the broad use of the app. “We need new ways of dealing with the pandemic,” said Laschet. In Bielefeld, the use of “luca” is already being tested. Rostock is still being advised by the state’s data protection commissioner, but wants to introduce the app as soon as possible. Laschet was also the one who advocated for the “luca” app at the Corona Summit on 3 March.
- Apparently he was listened to. Chancellor Merkel also mentioned the app as an example for digitally tracking contacts, and according to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, German politician serving as Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor, wanted to buy the app outright.
This media blitz is the ultimate technology bootstrapping during the COVID pandemic. In addition to the unmatched marketing coup it is fascinating to see duality in science & art, interdisciplinary learning and team work among two opposite disciplines in order to a deliver impactful digital solution for the COVID pandemic.
What does this mean for Spherity?
At Spherity we are working on digital solutions addressing problems of the CODIV pandemic as well. We are developing credentialing solutions for Vaccination Proofs, PCR- and Antigen-Test Certificates. In the same way as the Luca App team, we are very committed to collaborate with artists as professional ambassadors to help elevate world-class technology to facilitate science-based government COVID decision making.
We truly believe in this special duality of science and art that will extend the borders of ecosystem innovation to solve a systemic crises beyond the COVIC pandemic.
We seriously want to collaborate with the art and event industry. Join us in our effort to bring things to the next level.
You are an artist with passion to solve unprecedented problems? You like working in interdisciplinary teams? You want to contribute in easing the CODIV pandemic with world-class digital technologies?
Get in touch: carsten.stoecker@spherity.com
“To deliver a complete mind: study the art of science; study the science of art. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
About Spherity GmbH: Spherity specialises in compliance and credentialing solutions in the Health & Life Sciences. Currently, Spherity is bringing its technology into production as an industry-wide solution to meet the requirements of the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act in North America. We are leading the E-Health project in IDunion project.
References:
[1] Life Coach Code, 2014, Leonardo DaVinci: “Everything Connects to Everything Else”
[2] ntv, 02/2021, Digitale Kontaktverfolgung: Brauchen jetzt alle die Luca-App?
[3] Morgenpost, 03/2012, “luca”: Bundesregierung will App für ganz Deutschland einsetzen — Berliner Morgenpost
