Posted by Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Estoril Conferences under the theme “Re-think”. This topic is close to my heart, as in all fields of life we rarely allow ourselves the time to have a second thought. It is aligned with the 2 books I have been reading in parallel – Thinking Fast and Slow and Think Again.
But then again, how can a simple conference make you Re-Think? As always, NovaSBE had an ambitious program for the 2-day event, spanning politics and policies, planet, AI, technology and health. They sought to have the audience rethink in 3 steps – by unpacking preconceived ideas and beliefs, by connecting like-minded individuals and by exploring actionable solutions. With this in mind, I am sharing my top from the 2 days:
“Peace requires enormous courage to sit down and resolve differences”.
I was particularly intrigued by President Ramos Horta as he discussed his approach to Timor’s independence and was curious about how they were able to not demonize their opponent. As I wondered how you replicate this to today’s conflicts, he was quick to remind us of the importance of leadership coming from moral authority (rather than force) and how that goes a long way in uniting people.
“Discussion has to translate into decisive action”.
First Lady Zelenska brought us a carefully prepared speech but no doubt expressed some of my deep concerns about the different conflicts arising around the world and how they have made us think about our priorities. However, I must admit I struggle with spending a full morning hearing about peace-making and activism. In fact, I struggle to see the course of action – when we tolerate aggression, we are giving permission for those acts to be repeated and extended. But the cycle has not been broken yet.
“What has democracy done for me?”.
Luis Vilaherrera bridged the conversation into the world of AI. Tracoda, the organization he founded, is focused on promoting transparency of data to fight corruption. Through the power of data they are seeking to enable people to take action, demand better rights. However, Luis was firm in his belief that it all starts with the people, with training them, with focusing on what they need. Then you can arm them with data.
“We need to be in discomfort to convert the way we think about our future”.
Katy Rubin spoke to us about legislative theatre. A first for me. Through legislative theatre, people are given a chance to provide feedback and participate in the evaluation of policies, whilst public institutions are brought closer to the individuals they are writing the laws for. Katy challenges us all to lean in through very practical action, not taking the frameworks and the institutions we are given as fixed, but rather playing a role in defining them.
“Purpose is about creating value even if you did not need to do this”.
Professor Alex Edmans, despite his financial background, argued the pie is not fixed and actually through innovation companies can create value for society and capture value from that along the way. The easy example of Vodafone creating mobile money options is one that day-to-day I see with very clear impact on the ground in Mozambique. An example of where a corporate created a new pie and shared the outcomes with society.
“Where there is chaos there is opportunity”.
Derek Ali did a live exhibition of music creation with the help of AI. By now, it is the 3rd time I have watched this demonstration live, and each time it does not cease to impress me. One could expect to see a musician fighting off technology and AI but in fact, his response is that “if I had the tools, I would become who I am much faster”. Some disruption in the music industry is a good thing, given the amount of individuals who don’t really have access to it. With the gatekeeping removed, more opportunities will be created.
“History tells us that technology has been a job creator, not a job destroyer”.
As a technology optimist, I was encouraged by this view and the belief that companies that adopt AI in their workflow will be creating more opportunities. No doubt the nature of work is expected to change in many places, and the nature of career development will change, but at the end of the day, new generations will adapt and create. The danger is if we are too careful and start focusing too much on the downside, thereby creating the incentive to create more barriers to entry.
“Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs at the centre of action”.
Daniel Solomon helped us link AI and health, bringing together personalized medicine (and early diagnosis) and population health management (and more effective treatments). Through the app he developed for Rheumatoid Arthritis, PROs are fed into the system, identifying the need for earlier or later intervention and medication adjustments, while giving the patient better confidence in having the clinician closer to him/her. Solves for personalized care, improves access to care and allows for population management, whilst providing clinicians with better and timely data.
All in all, I enjoyed allowing myself the time to enlarge my mind and engage in thinking about what action I can take. It would be easy to call it a day and keep these notes in a drawer, alongside many other conference notes I have taken. But this time, I decided to take action.
I will share, I will investigate, I will re-think.