Takeaways TechArena Conference Stockholm

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TechArena Conference Stockholm

This week I'm reporting from Stockholm from the TechArena conference, which I'm attending with thousands of other tech enthusiasts ?? The conference hosted interesting speakers such as Al Gore and Steve Wozniak. I listened to the most important talks and curated content that made me think.

The Nordics as a Silicon Valley of Sustainability

That was the title of a panel I attended. Several of the nation's startups and tech companies are committed to sustainability or consider it a core part of their value proposition. E.g. Northvolt, a Swedish unicorn, that produces a "green battery" and meanwhile has over 5500 employees, or Novatron, which is working on a fusion reactor that provides clean energy, or Vidde, which makes a sustainable e-snowmobile (see below; I really like its sleek design).

Sustainability was definitely one of the most important topics at TechArena. In terms of content, the talk with former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore was certainly the highlight. I've been to a few conferences, but this was probably the best 45-minute interview I've seen so far. The passion and energy Al Gore has for the topic of sustainability is amazing. I have recorded a part of the talk to give you an impression (watch the full minute).

Al Gore's appearance was not only fantastic in terms of rhetoric, but also had very good impulses in terms of content, and I have included a few quotes for you. At one point in the interview, he was asked why there are so many climate change deniers in the USA. His answer made me smile:

“If you see a turtle on top of a fence post, it did not get there by itself.”

Clearly a nudge to the political decision-makers in the United Staates to live up to their responsibilities. Of course, he was also asked about his opinion on the US presidential election, which is in the media mainly focused on the persons Biden and Trump (and their shortcomings). But Gore made an interesting comment in this regard:

“The presidency is a team sport!”

I liked this idea and it made me think. It is definitely worth taking a closer look at the team behind the person standing for election. According to Gore, Biden has managed to put together a world-class team. With regard to politics, there was also a quote in another panel on the subject of sustainability that made me think:

"Politicians are playing not to lose; they are not playing to win."

I wondered what the world would look like if leaders were less concerned with their re-election and more concerned with winning when it comes to sustainability.

Steve Wozniaks Talk

Alongside Al Gore, Steve Wozniak was certainly the most important speaker of the TechArena conference. I was pleasantly surprised that both Gore and Wozniak were actually there in person. In recent years, I've seen it more and more often that conferences announce big names, but then the speaker only delivers his thoughts via video call or as a video recording, which is quite different from experiencing a live appearance on site. Wozniak talked a lot about the founding phase of Apple and gave some entertaining anecdotes, but listen for yourself:

He was rather critical of the topic of AI:

AI is not really smart (…) you have all AI in you, actual intelligence (…) we all are trying to figure out how to build a brain (…) synapse chips, neural networks (…) but can you actually recreate a brain? I was at a company that figured out how to create a brain — it took 9 months“

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Tech Arena Startup Competition

No tech event can do without a good startup pitch competition. And some very interesting startups pitched here over the last two days. Four startups ended up in the final, each of which had 4 minutes to present their project, followed by a short Q&A round.

The finalists were:

- Atlas Primer: an AI learning assistant for people with learning difficulties

- Reselo: a high performing sustainable rubber made from birch bark

- Mifundo: a cross-border credit data provider for banks

- Leya: an AI powered legal assistant

The pitch competition was won by Leya. A highlight for the winners was certainly that they were handed the prize by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Final Thoughts on the Tech Arena Conference

The TechArena conference took place in the Friends Arena, the home of the Swedish national football team. That was a brilliant location, I really liked it. The acoustics were very good and the noise level was low. The Swedes are friendly people, relaxed, modest, which was very pleasant. No pushy salespeople on the Expo Stage, but pleasant conversations without any sales pressure. The content on the four stages was interesting and well curated. The Tech Arena has certainly brought Stockholm back onto the relevant tech conference landscape for me.

You can find more impressions of the TechArena Conference in Stockholm at MadeMeThink.xyz. Subscribe to my publication on MadeMeThink.xyz for the full edition of my weekly newsletter.

Being on site, I also took the opportunity to explore the Swedish Innovation- and Startup-Ecosystem, the culture and of course the Swedish cuisine. But read more on that in this special issue of MadeMeThink...

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research. I registered at the TechArena as a media representative, was accepted and received a free entry ticket without any strings attached.