SAPIE Forum 2023 - 1st day in a nutshell
After months of careful preparation, the first SAPIE Forum was finally kicked-off on March 28, at HubHub Twin City C in Bratislava. The first year of the SAPIE Forum was marked by success - more than 50 speakers, 250+ attendees from 16 countries and 3 continents. Two days full of inspirational remarks and thoughts, networking, positive feedback from participants, and last but not least, a great atmosphere.
Innovations
The panelists shared their thoughts on the definition of innovation. Everyone contributed with something different: Innovation as a driver of positive changes in society (Martina Kolesárová, Executive Director, PONTIS Foundation), innovation as the art of making the impossible possible (Eve Peeterson, Head of Startup Estonia), or innovation as something as natural to humans as breathing (Michaela Kršková, CIO at the Slovak Government Office). Until Peter Vesterbacka, serial entrepreneur and one of the brains behind the global success of Angry Birds, declared in his characteristically honest and open way that people who keep mentioning innovation usually don't have it. The topic of attracting the best brains in order to boost the innovation ecosystem resonated strongly among the panelists. Peter talked extensively about the importance of talent density. The need for talent is huge and it is even more pronounced in the tech industry. As he explained, Finland itself needs around 13 thousand tech professionals and fulfilling this need for talent will be the key determining factor when it comes to successful innovations. He also described interesting strategies aimed to help attract global talent, such as a program aimed at teaching Finnish to kids in Vietnam and Uzbekistan, who can then attend a Finnish high-school as they already know the language.
Inspiring stories
Martin Basila talked about the importance of quality education, which translates into fewer but better universities. He also pointed out the importance of having more self-confidence, as its lack often prevents talented young people from taking the risk to try to turn their ideas or dreams into reality. However, the political situation and culture also play a role, as they can motivate talented people to return back home, or achieve the exact opposite.
Mária Virčíková mentioned the importance of available funding, which becomes crucial at a certain stage of development, when young founders no longer need that much mentoring but simply sufficient funds to take their venture to the next level. She acknowledged the need for a change of mindset, and added that there are young talents and good minds in tech but they often lack the knowledge on how to build a company. Startups in small markets have to aim high from the very beginning, or as she put it: "You have to have a global mindset from day one when you start building a company.
Smart cities
Aik van Eemeren, Head Innovation and R&D at the City of Amsterdam, had an inspiring presentation on how Amsterdam reshaped its city policies and changed the narrative to surpass the limits of the "smart city" label and evolve towards a city which is "future-proof". This approach intends to go beyond economic growth and achieve broad welfare and responsible tech. The city program is built around specific missions, which have the power to spark the citizens' imagination and impact their lives. In practice, this means making decisions based on real data and citizens' choices, not just on their expressed wishes (which are often very different), a concept successfully applied in the interactive planning of neighborhoods.
Matúš Vallo highlighted the importance of a city's ability to communicate with its citizens. The same sentiment was echoed by Todd Asher, Deputy Principal, Media & Technology, Bloomberg Associates: "Cities that do well are the ones which engage with the public, ask questions, listen to answers, and communicate." However, the panelists all agreed with Aik van Eemeren's point regarding the discordance between peoples' stated values and wishes and their real actions and needs. As David Osimo, Policy Director, The Lisbon Council, added: "By asking people, you don't always get the right answer, you get the perception. You need data." All the panelists also stressed the importance of learning from past failures and mistakes.
Digital skills
Gori Yahaya, CEO of UpSkill Digital, pointed out Slovakia has a long way to go in this regard, as only 30% of Slovaks possess basic digital skills and only 19% of tech workers are women. He also shared several examples of how technology can be biased towards those who are not included in its development. Petra Kotuliaková, Founder and Director, Aj Ty v IT, talked about the challenges of designing a learning program for girls and women of different ages to get them interested in and skilled at programming. As an example of how fast this can be achieved and what impact it can have Branislav Kleskeň, CEO of Leaf mentioned the Košice IT Valley cluster. In twenty years, Košice has transformed itself through the rapid development of its IT and Shared Services sector. He stressed that one of the main enablers of this transformation was cooperation with universities, which completely changed their curriculum to adapt to the needs of the employers. The younger generation appreciates and expects flexible working arrangements but it is critical to keep the people motivated to continue learning and provide them with various options in terms of content and format. Katri-Liis Lepik also shared her experience of implementing hybrid learning at Tallinn University.
Regulation & AI
Although the agreement that some sort of AI regulation is needed is almost universal, opinions vary widely as to what level of regulation is beneficial and what level hinders further development. With the extremely fast pace of AI development, it is very questionable if the regulation attempts can keep pace and be relevant by the time they come into force. All the entrepreneurs in the audience were nodding in agreement as it was noted that the regulatory burden should be decreased, especially for SMEs. Speakers advocated a risk-based approach to regulation, which means that regulators analyze and identify the most serious risks within the industry and focus on them. The process should be open, transparent and participatory, with the inclusion of NGOs and experts.
Cybersecurity
The discussion started with an overview of how the recent dramatic geopolitical events influenced businesses and consumer behavior. All of these developments have underlined the importance of trust within the entire system, and trust is critically important in the cybersecurity market. This creates an urgent need for quality risk assessment against inside and outside threats. However, SMEs especially tend to underestimate the risks or ignore risk assessment altogether. As Dan Pastor, Director, Global Go-to-Market Lead, Cyber and Risk Services, Mastercard, pointed out, the impact of attacks on small businesses can be even more devastating than in the case of big ones.
SAPIE Impact Award
Before the last panel, it was time to announce the proud recipient of the very first SAPIE Impact Award. And the long applause along with a beautiful award went to Mary MacPherson, President and CEO, Slovak American Foundation, for her long-term dedication to supporting the Slovak innovative ecosystem, as well as further improving the Slovak-American relationships. Mary’s active involvement in the Slovak innovation ecosystem dates back to its humble beginnings and she continues to provide valuable advice, contacts and especially help with entering the U.S. market to Slovak companies to this day.
Start-up
Marián Porvažník, Managing Co-Founder, Vacuum Group, talked about the challenging task of bringing top talent to a Slovak company. Slovaks living abroad were the obvious first target due to existing family ties. However, some limitations, such as salary possibilities, can't be overcome and the right strategy should focus on highlighting what we have to offer, as well as providing the best possible support with settling in and living here. Nicolas Brien, Chairman, European Startup Network, added that it also requires changing our vision of the society we want to live in, as it is a big shift to go from a country which the people are leaving to a country which openly welcomes people from abroad.
The discussions at SAPIE Forum give us a good reason to believe that Slovakia is ready to take an active part in the digital revolution, and that Nicolas Brien was right about the CEE region being much better prepared for the second digital revolution than it was for the first one.
