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Inside The Massive Tech Event That Drew Power Players from Jack Ma To Heads Of State

This article is more than 4 years old.

Courtesy: Meero/Viva Technology 2019

There are tech events, and then there are tech events.  And having just come to a close, it is safe to say that Viva Technology falls squarely into the latter category. Now in its fourth year, this conference, held in Paris, France and the brainchild of mega advertising and communications company Publicis Groupe, is three days of thought-leadership, exhibits, investor opportunities, evening events and more that offers a compelling addition to the tech conference circuit due to a unique synthesis of much of the tech ecosystem and will impact business developments for years to come.

It's the kind of place where Alibaba's Jack Ma is being interviewed by Publicis Groupe Chairman Maurice Levy on the same stage where French President Emmanuel Macron previously spent nearly an hour with tech founders discussing the state of the tech industry in the EU, its place in the world and France's unique position; on the same stage where IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of IBM Ginni Rometty just finished a keynote address where the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau also delivered a keynote  earlier that morning. And that was only one stage and within just the first few hours of day one of the overall conference.

Courtesy: Meero/Viva Technology 2019

Various other stages featured simultaneous panel discussions and fireside chats with executives from telecommunications giant Orange to retail titan Carrefour and many, many others all discussing the intersection of technology and their various arenas.  Chief Brand Officer of Procter & Gamble, Marc Pritchard flew in to, among other business,  be interviewed on stage about the company's work in re-thinking advertising and branding as that task converges with technology and culture. Oh yes, and Rwanda President led the charge for Africa interests in technology while later in the day former U.S. former Secretary of State John Kerry also gave a talk, all making for a veritable tech power oasis.

The exhibit floor also included the mega-watt names in tech from Google to Cisco to Facebook and others but there were also areas representing startups clusters from China, Korea, Africa and more. Nielsen and McKinsey offered several invitation-only events in secluded parts of the venue. Robots glided around the floors interacting with humans while luxury group LVMH easily took the prize for sexiest exhibit area showcasing technology around its various brands such as Bulgari while also housing a chic talk space complete with a high-end juice/water bar where even the company's CEO, Bernard Arnault, actually paid a visit and interacted with various tech demos at his company's area while surrounded by hulking bodyguards.

Yep, there's more than a lot going on here.  Think CES's  younger European cousin which approaches a tech summit in a way that could only be created by a savvy, culturally-aware powerhouse like Publicis Groupe, along with French media group, Les Echos,  as opposed to that of a professional association of globally commanding forces in technology today. Viva Tech with its various satellite conversations and pacing creates an atmosphere for thought-leadership and a bit of reflection and intimacy. This conference is, perhaps, about the seductiveness of possibility and future collaboration in tech with the actual technology itself as the underpinning force while CES is the inverse. Both visions are equally needed in an era that is filled with complexities at every turn as we all move deeper into the fourth industrial revolution.

Courtesy: Meero/Viva Technology 2019

Indeed, much of the activity on the exhibit floor was centered around all the tech flashpoints-of-the-moment. The XR Park sponsored by Oracle hummed with visitors. There was also a Green Tech Park and Gaming Park. Fintech startups such as Youse and high-computing company Atos were among the many companies that took the opportunity to make announcements during the conference as well.

Evening events included investor-startup cocktail mixers in the sophisticated atmosphere of several open-air cafes in the style for which Paris is known offering the perfect romantic backdrop for discussions about power, money and innovation. The evening of the second night offered a massive dinner-party-of-sorts held at Station F (which I wrote about here the day it was announced nearly two years ago), Paris' extremely cool tech incubator campus-of-sorts that rivals nearly all other similar venues in the world with its size.

Awards were also given and Aerobotics, one of 50 startups showcased from Africa, scooped up the President Macron Africa Tech Award demonstrating the growing spotlight on the continent as a new hotspot for tech investments. Indeed, President Macron seems more than passionate about the area of technology and France's position within it. Macron spoke energetically about the vision to position France as not just a market but a product when it comes to the technology world, the need to increase the country's budget for AI investment and government's role within the in tech industry as a packed audience, which also included great spill-over onto areas with screens outside the venue, listened with rapt attention.

Courtesy: Meero/Viva Technology 2019

But it was perhaps Alibaba's Jack Ma who was both inspiring and yet controversial at the same time.  Offering insights and stories about his journey in building the formidable Alibaba, Ma recalled early days running nearly on fumes to his now impending early retirement. Ma was adamant about driving entrepreneurs to focus on their teams and customers rather than looking over their shoulders at competitors or worrying about pressures from investors.

However, when asked about AI and the future Ma surprisingly dismissed concerns that many in the space have about ethics and regulations saying that he believed that it is better to perfect the technology first and worry about regulations well afterward. Yet for an entrepreneur who comes out of the education sector, it is curious how sensitivity to, for example, potential bias and AI is not top of mind. Perhaps it is the luxury of coming from a culture which is primarily homogenous in appearance and does not have such history around discrimination and separation in the manner that exists in other countries that could give one such peace of mind about such formidable technology. Because when early victims of wrongful arrest due to facial recognition technology, for example, seems to already be people of color in the U.S., we might all be quite remiss to act now and ask questions later.

Such is the event that provides the opportunity for thought, interaction and digi-cultural trend tracking. Though victim to a few snags with long entrance lines and the typical conference glitches, Viva Tech will probably be on the must-attend list for global players as the future of technology continues to unfold.

 

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