The last day of the conference was marked by announcements, big presentations and a loud attendance at the exhibitors’ stands. In addition to the companies racing which one would attract more visitors, there were also many municipalities from European cities that presented their startup and entrepreneurship support programs.
Jean-Michel Jarre spoke on the MusicNotes stage in front of many fans of his music about a new app launched by Sony CSL Japan.
On the center stage, the now already famous robot “Sofia”, which had the opportunity to see and talk with its “older” brother, attracted a lot of attention. Talking about two robots was an amazing experience that raised some questions for us:
What awaits us in the future?
Will robots be able to work and communicate on their own?
And many, many more.
Chris Slowe, from Reddit talked about how to build a digital product with and for the user.
The most interesting was the panel discussion that featured, among others, Werner Vogels, CTO, Amazon, and Alyssa Cutright, Vice President of eBay Executive Payments. What awaits us when it comes to e-commerce services, how to protect yourself on payment and what are the new financial services that will be discussed in the future.
A very interesting topic, on the ContentMakers stage with the intriguing title “Is there a future for television?” Patrick Holland, with BBC TWO, Juliet Mann, from News Anchor, CGTN, and Ania Poullain-Majchrzak, a Reuters Television journalist, tried to answer this question.
At the stage dedicated to fashion, Modum was waiting for us with Anna Gedda, H & M’s Sustainable Development Director, who tried to answer the question of where fashion is going for the next 15-20 years.
Fernando Machado, Chief Marketing Officer of Burger King, presented the new marketing strategy and how much it can bring them in comparison to the competition. The technology helps the users to connect with the brand very easily. On the other hand, it can be a problem because it is very important to stand out from the crowd of commercials that literally “flood” the market every day.
Lucas Di Grassi, CEO of Roborace, explained to the visitors in attendance how driverless cars can affect not only the vehicle market and traffic, but also how we communicate with each other in their interactions.
But Rezai, chairman of the executive committee of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, spoke about connecting brain and technology. With over 100 billion neurons, the human brain is a very powerful and mysterious tool. Modern science has only scratched the surface when studying this amazing human organ.
Saskia Steinacker – Global Director of Digital Transformation, Bayer Group talked about the responsibility of companies that have the power to influence various developments in the science world, she spoke specifically about medicine.
A little fun at some of the stands attracted a lot of visitors. SAP had a Formula E vehicle and interactive NBA basketball as SAP works as the official partner for all stats tracked by NBA events.
DEXAI Robotics had two robotic hands and a display where visitors could choose their own candy mix, and then those hands would prepare a candy mix to order and fill bowls before the eyes of delighted visitors.
In the end, we can confidently claim that this was another successful conference hosted by the Web Summit team.
In addition to the numbers we provided in the first part of this report, there was a lot of socializing, learning, glowing faces and hectic participants.
The city of Lisbon has proven to be a real host by adapting all the infrastructure and traffic to this event. The conference was provided by the Portuguese police, numerous discounts and “packages” in shops aimed at the summit participants are only a fraction of the atmosphere that prevailed in the city that lives and breathes for the next Web Summit 2020.
The extent to which this event is global and supported by the Portuguese Government is also evidenced by the fact that throughout the conference the Portuguese Prime Minister or Ministers were present and actively participated in the discussions and panels.
For the very end, In the end, the Web Summit was closed by the President of Portugal xxx, who in an inspired speech highlighted the importance of technologies, their proper use and the young generations who live a completely different life. For a country that was under dictatorship by 1971, events like this are a window into the world and a better future.
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