Applied Sciences Conference 2023 is over! Here are some of the highlights
Applied Sciences Conference 2023 is over! And what a few days it has been; a whirlwind of phenomenal insights, extraordinary events and connections across the entire tech ecosystem.
We talked about diversity and inclusion, why you should design something in the first place, the importance of building not just scaleups but stayups, how to get funding from VCs and beyond, and of course there were lots of discussions about AI. While it was incredibly hard to choose, here are some highlights from the past two days.
The speakers and sessions
Nagin Cox, interplanetary storyteller and NASA engineer took the main stage for “Ad Astra (To the Stars): Before We Send Humans, We Send Robots.” This talk was literally an otherworldly shift in perspective and perfectly captures the spirit of TNW’s 2023 theme – Reclaim the Future.
As Nagin, who has worked on a staggering number of NASA space exploration missions, quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do not go where the path leads. Instead, go where there is no path and leave a trail.
Among those in unfamiliar territory is Viktoriia Itskovych, Kyiv City’s first deputy CIO. She shared her own experience of transforming what was essentially a public transportation app into a digital lifeline for thousands of people in the Ukrainian capital.
After the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022, Viktoriia and her team literally moved into Kiev’s main data center for a few weeks and worked to secure the infrastructure and build new features, from air raid warnings to evacuation schedules.
Speaking about the lessons learned, she noted how the COVID pandemic and ongoing war have shown the importance of preparing for the scenarios that may seem totally impossible.
“What should we prepare for now? An alien invasion,” she asked the audience. “You laugh, and I laugh too, but it doesn’t feel as impossible as it used to.”
During an enlightening Q&A session on the TNW Talks stage, Rana Gujral – CEO of Behavioral Signals took a deep dive into how advances in cognitive AI and speech recognition software can help not only human-to-machine, but also human-to-human communication. improve .
Rana also shed light on some of the most pressing questions surrounding AI: should we pause its development? How do we ensure an ethical approach? And why should we focus on creating empathetic artificial intelligence?
Dr. Tom Furness III – Founder and President of Virtual Worlds also captivated the audience on our TNW Talks stage with invaluable experience and insights.
The pioneering inventor, professor, and entrepreneur hailed as the “grandfather” of virtual reality and augmented reality, delved deep into his journey in the development of XR and shared with the TNW audience how the transformative power of this technology can be harnessed for humanitarian applications, drive social impact, and improve our lives.
Lubomila Jordanova, founder and CEO of Plan A, the carbon accounting platform, and Jamie Crummie, co-founder of the sustainable food waste app Too Good To Go, attended the Growth Quarters which were performed to a packed audience.
These two founders have built and scaled impactful businesses against all odds and are now thriving thanks to their dedication. An important takeaway? “Stop wasting time! We need to do something about the climate now,” says Jordanova, eliciting a standing ovation from the crowd.
The food
Speaking of action on climate change, while TNW is pioneering technology, it is also driving the following in sustainable catering. Once again it made the bold decision to make all eateries local and vegetarian – from delicious flatbreads and temaki to kebabs and good old fries.
Applied Sciences wants to drastically reduce CO by removing meat from the catering industry2 emissions and help save large amounts of fresh water and land. In addition to the meatless menu, only reusable utensils, cups, plates and packaging were used at the event, with no single-use plastic for sale.
“This is great to see”, said Chris Carmichael, head of business innovation at TUI Musement, on LinkedIn. “I’ve been to a lot of big conferences over the years, but TNW is the first one I’ve been to that has put so much focus on sustainability.”
The side events
In one of the conference’s most impactful side events, companies, corporates and policymakers from around the world came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities of DEI in the tech world. The ideas were structured around four main themes: legislation, translating DEI into action, maturing related initiatives and setting respective goals for organizations.
Our visitors were also able to meet a number of speakers for book signings, courtesy of our own American Book Center in Amsterdam.
The transportation
For the first time, TNW arranged ferry shuttles from Amsterdam Central Station. Anyone who has risen in time has experienced the light morning breeze while descending the IJ, or the epic vibes of sailing to sunset on the KPMG karaoke cruise on the evening of the first day.
And of course there were all the amazing startups coming together to connect, funders and policy makers, all looking to build and support the ecosystems that will take technology into the next chapter – which we are incredibly excited to be a part of.
See you at TNW Conference 2024!
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