This article is part of KrASIA’s partnership with Web Summit. Written by Ciaran Bruder.
The last 12 months have seen decisive change in the way we spend our free time. Mobility solutions are becoming increasingly popular, with driverless vehicles popping up across the world, while our urban spaces are evolving into smart city projects. Web Summit’s lifestyle content covers it all.
What CNN calls “Europe’s largest tech event” gathers experts from the industries that play vital roles in our lifestyles. From sports to gaming to autotech, find out what’s coming down the track by checking out just five of the most exciting and diverse talks at Web Summit 2020.
5 society-themed talks you need to watch
1. Kicking off the next cycle of the women’s sport revolution
2019 was a breathtaking year for elite female sports across the board. Heightened exposure and coverage, record TV rights and large sponsorship deals were a feature during a year that saw multiple record-breaking tournaments held. France hosted the eighth FIFA Women’s World Cup, Germany put on the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, and records were broken at the World Athletics Championships in Qatar. The list goes on and on.
Momentum slowed this year as Covid-19 forced the sports world to a standstill. As sports kicks into gear again, we’ve gathered an expert panel – featuring Barbara Slater, director of sport at the BBC, former footballer Karen Carney, and Marie Crowe, RTÉ Sport reporter and broadcaster – to discuss how the industry can recover and keep going from strength to strength.
2. Spread the word: Africa’s fast road to digital evolution
The economy has grown significantly on the African continent in recent years. But do people outside of Africa know how countries from the Sahara to the savannah are transforming? Leaders of the public and private sector are coming together in a continent-wide effort to transform perceptions of tech innovation in Africa and share expertise with the world.
This session brings together Lacina Kone, director-general at the regulatory body Smart Africa, and Amina Mohamed, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for sports, culture and heritage, to discuss the continent’s economic future and where Africa is on its road to full digital evolution.
3. What tech trends are transforming Lisbon into a smart city?
Renewable, cashless, cohesive… These are just a few of the words that can be used to describe a modern urban centre that has been re-thought with local communities in mind and re-designed using smart city applications. Lisbon is just one city riding this wave of metropolitan redevelopment, but the city’s historic landmarks and unique culture make the contrast of using smart city tech all the more intriguing.
Want to know the trends in tech that are turning Lisbon into one of Europe’s smartest capitals? Join Madalena Cascais Tomé, CEO of Sibs, and Sofia Tenreiro, COO of Galp Energia, to find out.
4. José Mourinho accepts Web Summit’s Innovation in Sport award
José Mourinho is the poster boy for success in the footballing world, and is one of the greatest and most decorated professional football managers of all time. In a two-decade career, José has won 25 trophies with five different clubs, collected dozens of individual managerial awards, added several Guinness World records, and even been knighted.
In this session, the self-described Special One will be presented with the Web Summit Innovation in Sport award – another accolade to add to José’s now-bursting trophy cabinet.
5. Under the hood of Aston Martin’s plan for driverless luxury
Aston Martin recently turned 107 years old, but the marque hasn’t lost its ravishing good looks. Maintaining a reputation asone of the world’s most iconic brands is no easy task, especially when it’s synonymous with the refined charm of James Bond. But Aston Martin isn’t just obsessed with the past. Its vision for the future ties into what makes it successful too.
Aston Martin’s chief creative officer, Marek Reichman, joins David Martin of global design firm Fantasy to talk about how Aston Martin is modernising its operating systems with driverless car technology. Autonomous vehicles may be one vision of the future for the company, but Marek and David will also cover how they plan to preserve the esteemed marque’s integrity and maintain a luxury driving experience, whether a human is behind the wheel or not.
How can I access Web Summit’s online talks?
Web Summit offers unlimited digital access to 100+ hours of livestreamed content, including topics from cars to smart cities, and dozens of live speaker Q&As and expert roundtables. Our event was made for a two-screen experience on both our web and mobile apps. Attendees will use the mobile app to plan their schedule and what talks they want to see. The web app, meanwhile, is the main hub for consuming content and in-depth networking.
Talks are divided into six content themes, which are further split into 30+ topics specific to certain industries. You can also find any talk that you are looking for by using the content schedule’s ‘Tracks’ search function to filter talks by our live conference stages. Or you can search by ‘Channel’ to find similar talks or discussions grouped together on our online event platform.
Want to know more about what the future of our leisure time looks like? Web Summit’s 800+ speakers will tell us this December. Check out the event schedule today.
Main image: Sam Barnes/Flickr