This year’s Web Summit in Lisbon confirmed its position as “the best technology conference on the planet”, as Forbes has called it. Over eight years, the event has grown from 400 in 2010 to nearly 70 000 participants this year. Among them are thousands of journalists, start-ups, investors, as well as representatives of many industries and specializations from over 150 countries.
The number of invited guests and the impressive range of topics satisfied even the most demanding audiences. The lectures were held on over 20 parallel stages. Luckily, as soon as we overcome the disappointment resulting from the physical inability to appear in different places at the same time – it turns out that WEB Summit is not overwhelming anymore. What’s more, it encourages interaction at every step.
Among the stands located in four huge rooms of the Lisbon exhibition hall and congress center, we could find global giants such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon as well as representatives of countries offering their “tech-support” for the most promising start-ups. We also enjoyed the Polish presence – for the second time, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development organized a stand where over 40 Polish companies could promote their offer.
Platform for pioneers of change
Web Summit turns out to be a unique platform for the exchange of opinions, knowledge, and experiences of people who have a real influence on the shape of today’s world – the pioneers of change. It is also an excellent opportunity to get inspired not only regarding new technology trends but also during meetings with other participants.
The need to keep pace with technological progress has a larger impact on the modern business services sector (BSS). Quick adaptation to changes becomes one of the main features of the entire sector.
Responsibility for the effects of hyper-technological development
In the light of the challenges posed by advanced technologies, this year’s dialogue between the heads of large corporations and politicians was particularly interesting. This discussion was conducted on many stages and became the axis of WEB Summit 2018. Brad Smith (Microsoft), Young Sohn (Samsung Electronics) and Margrethe Vestager or Vera Jourova (European Commission) took the floor. The awareness of being both part of the global problems and the means to solve them will probably lead to closer cooperation between Big Tech and European institutions.
During WEB Summit, the whole technology industry comes to joint conclusions, although it’s struggling with the issues of data collection and processing, cyber-attacks, disinformation waves, or even declines in share prices and antitrust penalties. In short – it’s all about responsibility.
BW
