PoliticTech at the LisbonWeb Summit
Technology first, then collapsology and best sellers such “Collapse” by Jared Diamond (2011) had convinced us a long time ago that a new paradigm was born. The old world order was slowly disappearing to leave place to a nouveau monde. But we needed a proof of concept to confort our intuition and that is what The 2019 Web Summit is offering this year, a collective brainstorming proving a new world is alive and real, with real ideas and real people ready to build our future with us. Paddy Cosgrave, CEO and founder confirmed to AFP “ A technologia se tornou hyperpolitica”.“The technology is turning hyperpolitical”. Tech has to be connected with democracy is a belief that Le Blog de la Ménagère has exposed in many posts (civic tech).
Hyperpolitical
Long before the 2019 Web Summit began, we already were aware of the number of speakers and celebrities announced. In sport Ronaldo would be there, and Eric Cantonna the football icon Ambassador to Common Goal, and politicians like Tony Blair, or European Michel Barnier. Tech giants had sent their experts, they all had something new to offer. Among 11 000 CEOs some would deliver their secrets. « The leaders of eToro, Andela , Walmart and Mozilla share their insightsIt was going to be innovation », creativity and business as usual as hundreds of start-ups were selected. Even robots would be there. We were going to meet Sofia (Hanson Robotics) again, wiser, prettier, and more since the progress in robotics seems to have no limit. « The promise of personal robots is closer than you think”. Everybody would talk and exchange about AI, deep tech, auto-tech. I really thought and wrote that money was going to be the BIG thing this year. « Cash is dead, what’s next to go? » I was eager to hear Russian native Nikolay Storonsky Founder of Revolut, about new ways of payments and new banks, Fintech and new currencies, and stop being such an old school fool not knowing what to do with my money, barely having a credit card just because I need it for travelling. Well you could go cashless at the Web Summit! Yes, we expected to live during 3 days in a tech ecosystem with bliss and benefice.
Proof of concept
But I was wrong, the Web Summit was not merely about innovation and tech this year, it was about a much bigger challenge, it was about the new world order. The 2019 offered a proof of concept because so many experts were there inspiring us, we were for 3 days in a collective intelligence bubble. it was in the talks. It was in the air. Yes data is the new gold. And data analyst a promising new job. And we had any experts on the subjects such as Daniela Braga of DefinedCrowd, a data procession platform using machine learning with human input.
But the celebrity was Edgar Snowden speaking from Russia where he lives in exile.What Edgar Snowden had to say was a warning everybody could understand : “data is not abstract, it is about people” and please wake up, “it is not data that is exploited, it is you being manipulated”. So data is about privacy, just as AI and facial recognition. Maybe we should check alternative platforms surch as Elixir “a transaction platform running on a full-stack blockchain.”
“Trade wars : a new world order?”
Another great talk proving that the world undergoes tremendous changes was “ Trade wars : A new world order?” With Michael Pillsbury, Senior Fellow and Director for Chinese Strategy, Hudson Institute (and Trump’s China consultant), Juan Branco, Legal Adviser to Julian Assange, Wikileaks. Juan Branco first thanked the Web Summit, but as he is a well-kown activist during the conversation he paid a tribute to the Gilets Jaunes, who have the courage to fight for dignity and a decent life. Michael Pillsbury taught us a chinese word : “Global economic war China is very concerned by one word the word is “Ba”. A Ba is a a tyrant who controls the world and Chine sees the US as a bad ba. China wants to be the Ba!”. Adding “one of the biggest problem now if you are a start-up is the theft of intellectual property by China, any field of start-up technology is concerned.” War ! And Juan Branco pointed that French government selling pork to China 10 000 km away is in contradiction with the ecological announcements. At his press conference he urged us journalists to write to Julien Assange.
The GAFA beteween devils and angels
The GAFA are not all bad, some leaders are geniuses. They truly disrupted our way of living, “pour le meilleur et pour le pire.” It is just that they can’t get enough…each of them trying to make us addicted to their community, all want to be the ultimate connected world, the new world order. “Technology should serve us and not serve its self” says Commissioner Margrethe Vestager regularly invited to the Web Summit. About taxes “We want the GAFA to pay their fair shares, no more, no less”. Europe is also working so that “All the people who create content a proper remuneration”. And “Technology maybe new, but our values are not, we want our fundamental values to travel with us, dignity, integrity, humanity, equality”.
The tech giants are aware of the necessity of ethics, equity, transparency, a demand from the users and consumers. Yes, they do make an effort as Facebook presented his plan towards more privacy for Messenger. Few know that Facebook messenger “secret conversations” allows you the send hidden messages. Guo Ping, head of the Chinese Huawei Group, was one of the speakers at the Opening night with 5G. One truly interesting point about Web Summit is “no ideology”, just facts, speakers, demos, and you make your own opinion. I was impressed by the quality of Huwai products, Samsung, Google, Portuguese EDP, and so many start-ups that we had so little time to see.
Zoe Taylor : “I’m so grateful to be invited back to teach yoga at the Google site during this years 2019 Web Summit says It’s impressive that companies such as Google are leading the way in bringing physical, emotional and mental health to people.” She guided a 30 min breathing, moving and meditation session everyday at 1pm.
The ratio of 46, 3% women the 2019 Web Summit attending is part of the proof of concept : women will be more and more part of the world order.
Creating, Reinventing, Storytelling
Let’s take fashion. Fashion is not about selling nice or beautiful clothes and bags and perfumes anymore. “Fashion, way beyond next season” with Anna Gedda, Chief Sustainability Officer, H&M. A sustainable fashion industry seems to be the new model “We see a positive trend in customer behavior, where more and more customers want to know where and how the garment was made”. Many H&M actions towards sustainability : “Take Care concept across more markets, which we see as an important step in helping our customers care for their favorite pieces longer and in that way prolong the lifespan of the product.”
« Reinventing your brand in a digital era is true for the most famous brands.” Daniel Grieder CEO Tony Hilfiger has made some amazing steps, the brand is loved by young people who crowded around the stand to get a Tote bag in thick blue jeans. Tommy Hilfiger to 3D print all clothes by 2025.
Gregory Boutté, Chief Client & Digital Officer at Keringed is a perfect example of adaptation that brands as famous as Gucci or Saint-Laurent have to make to keep their customers and gain new one, among young people…and rich Chinese ! His mission is to lead the digital transformation of the group, working with Kering’s Maisons to develop e-commerce, CRM, data science, innovation activities. The customer is what comes first and he wants customers to have an emotional experience with the brand.
And everybody should learn storytelling at school…« The New York Times is the most innovative storyteller in the world ». The Content Makers space was more than full for Graham McDonnell brilliant visual exposé « Storytelling and brands ». He is international Creative Director for T Brand Studio, the in-house creative agency at The New York Times : a sign that traditional medias can be as innovative as new medias.
