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Web Summit 2024: The Beginning of the End
14.11.2024The final day of Web Summit is the coldest yet and I’m back in thermal tights. I’m not seen many dresses here. Not especially surprising – the women here want to be taken seriously, which means wearing powerful pant-suits and business-casual jeans. I’m not especially concerned with being taken seriously – these dresses are just […]
Read MoreWeb Summit: Night Summit Continues
14.11.2024The moon is out when I pass that wonderful view from the metro between Bela Vista and Olaias. It’s difficult to capture on a smartphone so you’ll have to take my word for it. Another beautiful Lisbon day that I spent inside. At least this one was brisk and windy. I’m looking forward to the […]
Read MoreWeb Summit: Partner Startup Islands
14.11.2024Most of Web Summit’s startup stalls are grouped together by industry but there are also Partner Startup Islands, many of which are designated to a specific country (or city, in the case of Dublin). Presumably these are places whose governing body is partnered with Web Summit. A startup being grouped with their own industry vs. […]
Read MoreWeb Summit: Press Conferences
14.11.2024One big benefit to having media credentials at Web Summit is you get access to press conferences at the event. I miss the first half of Harry Nym and Chelsea Manning’s twenty minute talk at Stage 11. I found the chess stall. What can I say? Luckily for me though, they’re also booked in for […]
Read MoreWeb Summit Startup Spotlight: ZEN8
14.11.2024Once again wandering the startup stalls, I find something genuinely compelling. A swimming trainer app produced by Beta Startup ZEN8. This is something I’ve not seen before. They even have a prototype for new hardware they’ve designed! You can use these to move your avatar around a virtual environment and the app will give feedback […]
Read MoreThe Beauty of Web Summit
14.11.2024In The Picture of Dorian Gray, one of Wilde’s characters – I forget which – tells us that everything useful is ugly because it expresses a need. There’s something profoundly beautiful in the form of Web Summit. What could be more useless than the alpha startup searching for speculators to invest in their game where […]
Read MoreWeb Summit: The Start of Night Summit
13.11.2024The first full day of Web Summit is done. My plan is to drop stuff at my hotel and grab a jacket because, even in Lisbon, this is still a November evening. Maybe I’ll eat something too. Then I’ll be off to the first evening of Night Summit. My experience of Night Summit last year […]
Read MoreWeb Summit: Partner Startup Islands
12.11.2024Most of Web Summit’s startup stalls are grouped together by industry but there are also Partner Startup Islands, many of which are designated to a specific country (or city, in the case of Dublin). Presumably these are places whose governing body is partnered with Web Summit. A startup being grouped with their own industry […]
Read MoreWeb Summit: New Energy Summit
12.11.2024Stage 7 is hosting a discussion called “AI’s insatiable appetite for energy”. I take a seat at the media desk and regret wearing a “standing-up” jumpsuit. It’s a relief to get off my feet for a while nonetheless. These critics of AI are broadly correct but their presence here does nothing to counterbalance Web Summit’s […]
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Web Summit: The Startups
12.11.2024I wander around the startup stalls. Despite talk of AI robotic plumbers at Web Summit 2025 on the main stage, there are very few robotics startups. I do find a startup producing robotic care workers but, considering how poorly compensated human care workers are, I’m skeptical that the financial incentive is really there. The guy […]
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