Un concept UPGRADE 100 powered by George. Primul banking inteligent.

Primul keynote speaker internațional care a urcat pe scena noii ediții IQ DIGITAL Summit care a avut loc recent, la Brasov a fost Andreas EKSTOM – jurnalist și comentator tech cu 8 cărți publicate [inclusiv cunoscuta carte “The Google Code“].

Andreas Ekström for the first time in Romania | IQ Digital Summit Brașov | Photo: Mihnea Ratte
IQ DIGITAL e un concept Upgrade 100 dezvoltat alături de George - inovație BCR. Începând cu ediția de la Brașov, Vodafone Romania s-a alăturat proiectului în calitate de Technology Partner.

După prezentarea susținută pentru audiența live de la Brașov, Andreas a dialogat cu Smaranda Heroiu din echipa Upgrade 100 și a răspuns întrebărilor audienței.

Întrucât multe întrebări au rămas fără răspuns din pricina timpului limitat, așa cum moderatorul și speakerul au promis la finalul dialogului de pe scena Teatrului “Sică Alexandrescu” din Brasov – iată, mai jos, răspunsurile și la alte teme ridicate de audiența summitului – așa cum au fost ele adresate, și cum li s-a răspuns (în limba engleză).

ANDREAS EKSTRÖM: In the war against fake news, well-educated citizens might be our best defense

What is leadership actually about? What does technology in today’s digital revolution come down to? How has the world managed to survive before today’s disruption?

Andreas Ekström’s “THE POWER OF &” – keynote at the 2nd IQ DIGITAL SUMMIT edition – is a deep dive into a steady and analytical mode of thinking, into the social and anthropological implications of the current industrial revolution and at the same time, an opportune toolkit to building a sustainable, meaningful world, in which we share not only wealth, but also knowledge, influence and ethical awareness.

Who is Andreas Ekström? Read his profile here.

IQ DIGITAL: What are your thoughts on blockchain and web 3? Can blockchain solve any of the conflicts you talk about in your presentation?

AE: It is, all in all, too soon to tell for sure. I like the idea of less middlemen, of distribution of ownership and knowledge – but I still need to see strong use cases to be totally convinced that this is a vision for the web as a whole that might actually change our idea of what the internet is.

IQ DIGITAL:  Is FREE vs PAID another #falseconflict?

AE: Chris Anderson explored this in a book called “Free – the future of a radical price” more than ten years ago. I don’t think he was spot on with everything, but he does describe some mechanisms for making business in a different way due to digital tools.

But I want to stress that everyone who does a professional job should be vigilant about getting paid, and relentlessly call bullshit when someone who is not a non-profit themselves asks them to work for free. 

Andreas Ekström, IQ Digital Summit Brașov | Photo credits: Mihnea Ratte
A visual story of what happened at IQ Digital Summit Brașov can be seen here. 

IQ DIGITAL: How do you develop this way of thinking? How do you wake up the critical thinking in a person?

AE: There is nothing magic about it. Learning is something that always goes on. What you need to do is to put in the time, and make sure that you shift sources when you can.

In the war against fake news, well-educated citizens might be our best defense.

Andreas Ekström

IQ DIGITAL: How do we mediate all the conflicts as the mainstream media and social media seem to push for them all the time? Moreover, since conflict sells better?

AE: We live in an attention economy. I am worried about this too, and I am not sure what we best can do, other than trying to make better personal choices in our feeds.

There are many big questions, but my first question, digitally, is net neutrality. There are other bigger issues we need to discuss, but if we don’t have net neutrality, we are going to be able to freely all the information we want, it’s going to be impossible to create a startup and bring down the giant.

Andreas Ekström
Over 600 attendees at IQ Digital Summit Brașov. On the stage: Andreas Ekström | Photo credits: Mihnea Ratte

IQ DIGITAL: Aren’t negotiation and compromise reserved for the people who have the basic needs covered? What do we do with people whose lives are threatened or perceive compromise as a loss of identity?

AE: That is indeed different. Some of these issues need strong political action – but even that needs to be based in a democratic process. And while we analyze the situation, we always need to be respectful of the differences regarding where we are at – i.e. on Maslow’ hierarchy of needs. 

IQ DIGITAL: How do you see the future of wars?

AE: I think it is with wars as with everything else: increasingly unique, complex and new. Very few things can be said that will be applicable to all future armed conflicts, because the complexity in political development is so massive.

IQ DIGITAL: What’s one conflict that people developed deep inside them in the last 6 months?

AE: In Europe? The realization that our lifestyle with driving and flying and eating endless amount of meat and not separating our garbage is killing the planet: our personal choices will matter more than we think, and we HAVE to change. But how?

Real innovation is happening and the need is never ending.

Andreas Ekström

IQ DIGITAL: In order to have multiple players on the Internet we need to ensure interconnectivity.

All messaging apps should be able to reach WhatsApp users and you should be able to follow someone on Instagram from any other app. How can we achieve that if we allow businesses to protect themselves and be closed?

AE: This is what we need parliaments for. Write laws to protect data portability!

Andreas Ekström, IQ Digital Summit Brașvov | Photo credits: Mihnea Ratte

IQ DIGITAL: What will be the next big thing in your opinion?

AE: A wonderful yet impossible question. I am excited about advancements in health tech that might save lives of people who die needlessly today, and this is not science fiction. Real innovation is happening and the need is never ending. The next big thing will be better health for more people! I hope. 

I think the world should pay more taxes. We should have a global tax reform (…) to have good health care, good transportation, good education. 

Andreas Ekström

IQ DIGITAL: What essential role can technology have in solving issues such as political instability and climate change?

AE: Absolutely key. The issues we are facing are not going to be solved by one single player. This is a really good time to make a fortune while also making the planet better. Get to it!

IQ DIGITAL:  You wrote the Google code in 2010, as a reportage book. It’s sold out. If you had the chance to republish it and add one more chapter to it, what would that be about?

AE: The journey from young and exciting to an established old company – how it happened, how it affected Google and how it affected us.

IQ DIGITAL: Where do you think this fake-news vs ethical media is going?

Did we lose the battle with the algorithms, the business model based on data appropriation and the social media platforms, which play a huge role in the “angry” narrative?

How do we approach this battle? As individuals? Publishers? Brands? Agencies? Mostly against the client companies’ ROIs? 

AE: I wish I knew. The propaganda wars are here to stay. Well educated citizens might be our best defense.

Andreas Ekström and Smaranda Heroiu, the host and moderator of this Q&A session | IQ Digital Summit Brașov | Photo: Mihnea Ratte

What is IQ DIGITAL?

The IQ DIGITAL concept was conceived by the Upgrade 100 team together with George – a BCR innovation – as an informative and educational hybrid media format.

Its content combines digital culture with television techniques, aiming to help solving the challenges encountered in the digitization processes faced by entrepreneurs in the Romanian SME sector.

Starting with IQ DIGITAL Summit in Brașov, Vodafone Romania joined the project as Tech Partner.

Marian Hurducas

Antreprenor, marketing & content strategist cu peste 15 ani de experiență, fost jurnalist. Co-realizator al show-ului de cultură digitală UPGRADE 100 Live – difuzat lunea de la 7 PM la Radio Guerrilla.

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