TNW Convention 2023 is a wrap! And what a few days it has been; a whirlwind of phenomenal insights, extraordinary occasions and connections throughout all the tech ecosystem.
We’ve got talked about range and inclusion, why to design something within the first place, the significance of constructing not solely scaleups however “stayups,” the right way to safe funding from VCs and past, and, after all, there have been loads of discussions on AI. Though they have been extremely troublesome to decide on, listed below are among the highlights from the previous two days.
The audio system and classes
Nagin Cox, interplanetary storyteller and NASA engineer took to the principle stage for “Advert Astra (to the celebs): Earlier than we ship people, we ship robots.” This speak was, actually, out-of-this world perspective altering, and sums up the spirit of TNW’s theme of 2023 – Reclaim the Future – completely.
As Nagin, who has labored on a mind-blowing quantity of NASA area exploration missions, quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do nor go the place the trail could lead. Go as a substitute the place there isn’t any path and go away a path.”
Amongst these discovering themselves in uncharted territory is Viktoriia Itskovych, First Deputy CIO of Kyiv Metropolis. She shared her first-hand expertise of remodeling what was primarily a public transportation app right into a digital lifeline for 1000’s of individuals throughout the Ukrainian capital.
After the full-scale Russian invasion started in February 2022, Viktoriia and her workforce actually moved to Kyiv’s major information centre for a number of weeks and labored on securing the infrastructure and constructing new options, from air raid alerts to evacuation schedules.
Talking concerning the classes realized, she famous how the COVID pandemic and the continued battle have proven the significance of making ready for the situations that will appear completely inconceivable.
“What ought to we be making ready for subsequent? An alien invasion,” she requested the viewers. “You’re laughing, and I’m laughing too, however it doesn’t really feel as inconceivable because it used to.”
Throughout an illuminating Q&A session on the TNW Talks stage, Rana Gujral — CEO at Behavioural Alerts delved deep into how developments in cognitive AI and speech recognition software program might help enhance not solely human-to-machine, however human-to-human communication as effectively.
Rana additionally make clear among the most urgent questions round AI: ought to we pause its improvement? How will we guarantee an moral method? And why ought to we give attention to creating empathetic synthetic intelligence?
Dr Tom Furness III — founder and chairman at Digital Worlds additionally captured the viewers at our TNW Talks stage with invaluable expertise and insights.
The pioneering inventor, professor, and entrepreneur celebrated because the “grandfather” of digital actuality and augmented actuality, dived deep into his journey in XR improvement and shared with the TNW viewers how the transformative energy of this expertise could be harnessed for humanitarian purposes, drive social influence, and enhance our lives.
Lubomila Jordanova, Founder and CEO at carbon accounting platform Plan A, and Jamie Crummie, co-founder of sustainable meals waste app Too Good To Go, took to the Progress Quarters staged in entrance of a packed viewers.
These two founders have constructed and scaled impactful companies in opposition to all odds, and are actually thriving on account of their dedication. A key takeaway? “Cease losing time! We have to act now on local weather,” says Jordanova, invoking a standing ovation from the group.
The meals
Talking of performing on local weather change – whereas TNW is pioneering the following in tech, it’s also pushing the following in sustainable catering. As soon as once more, it took the daring resolution to make all eating choices locally-sourced, and vegetarian — from scrumptious flatbreads and temaki to kebabs and good ol’ french fries.
By eradicating meat from its catering choices, TNW goals to drastically cut back CO2 emissions, and assist save massive quantities of recent water and land. Along with the meatless menu, solely reuseable utensils, cups, plates, and packaging have been used on the occasion, with no single-use plastics on sale.
“This can be a great point to see,” said Chris Carmichael, head of company innovation at TUI Musement, on LinkedIn. “I’ve been to many many massive conferences over time, however TNW is the primary I’ve been to that has put a lot effort into sustainability.”
The facet occasions
Throughout one of many convention’s most impactful facet occasions, corporations, corporates, and coverage makers from all world wide got here collectively to debate the challenges and alternatives of DEI within the tech world. The concepts have been structured round 4 major subjects: laws, translating DEI into motion, maturing associated initiatives, and establishing respective objectives for organisations.
Our guests may additionally meet up with a number of of the audio system for e book signings, courtesy of Amsterdam’s personal American Ebook Middle.
The transportation
For the primary time ever, TNW organized ferry shuttles from Amsterdam Centraal Station. Anybody who acquired up in time could have skilled the sunshine morning breeze whereas journeying down the Ij, or the epic sailing-into-the-sunset vibes of the KPMG karaoke cruise on the night of day one.
And, after all, there have been all of the incredible startups coming collectively to make connections, funders and policymakers, all trying to construct and assist the ecosystems that can take tech into its subsequent chapter – of which we’re extremely excited to be an element.
See you at TNW Convention 2024!
