Sir Tim Berners-Lee – founder of the World Wide Web – is standing-up against the web giants he feels have twisted his world-changing platform.
The heralded computer scientist – ranked first in The Telegraph’s list of 100 greatest living geniuses, and named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century – has his sights set firmly on the likes of Facebook, Google and Amazon as he heads to GITEX today to reveal start-up venture ‘Inrupt’, which wants to return full control of personal data back to web users.
Berners-Lee, a Professor of Computer Science at MIT and University of Oxford, will unveil the project to a global audience packed with venture funds, LPs, institutional and private investors in what promises to be one of the most thrilling exclusives of GITEX 2018.
He will be speaking on the Quantum Stage in Sheikh Maktoum Hall from 4.15pm local time.
GITEX 2018 will be the ultimate experience of how stunning tech continues to augment our lives
Today’s technologies were simply unfathomable when Berners-Lee launched the modern Internet 28 years ago. Nearly three decades on, and GITEX 2018 is inviting visitors to explore the next generation of unimaginable, under the tagline Experience Urban Futurism.
An 80% increase on participating start-ups across 4,500 plus exhibitors, make this year’s 38th annual GITEX Technology Week – and third GITEX Future Stars – the most future-forward GITEX of all time. With a dedication to serve a MENA start-up ecosystem that saw AED2.39 billion (US$650 million) capital invested last year alone, this week’s show sees GITEX Future Stars reaffirm its position as the region’s leading startup-investor event – and the ultimate experience of where ever-advancing tech is taking us next.
GITEX Future Stars are hosting more than 700 intrepid innovators and risk-taking entrepreneurs across 19 different sectors, all of whom will be given unrivalled opportunities to network with 1,500 investors, accelerators and incubators from the likes of Google Ventures, the Amazon Venture Fund, IFC-World Bank Group, IDG Ventures, Draper Associates and the European Business Angel Network.
Techs will range from iB Cricket – the world’s first true sport virtual reality game, endorsed by Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind – to Satsure, a satellite-led farming aid that will multiply crop output and a startup that has already secured a MOU from Bill Gates.
Established global firms like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, HPE, SAP, Alibaba Cloud and Huawei will also once again use the summit to unveil their latest cutting-edge tech; concepts that range from car windows that double-up as entertainment packed touchscreen video platforms, to X-ray scanning mirrors. More than 100 companies will showcase mind-blowing, real-world AI adoption, making GITEX the region’s biggest AI gathering to date, and mobile giants Etisalat, du and the Saudi Telecom Company will all live trial the 5G network that promises to provide on-the-go internet at 100x the speed of 4G.
Learn from the best in the business at an event where incredible tech becomes accessible
A power panel of leaders are joining Berners-Lee in speaking across eight different industry verticals at GITEX, including Neal Cross – the driving force behind DBS Bank’s innovation agenda, and the man recently named the most disruptive CIO in the world. Cassie Kozyrkov, Google’s Chief Decision Scientist; Igor Perisic, LinkedIn’s Chief Data Officer; Dr. Wanli Min, Alibaba Group’s Chief Machine Intelligence Scientist; digital mega-entrepreneur Gilles Babinet; and Joe Federer, Brand Strategy, Reddit, all feature, as does former ASOS.com chairman Brian McBride, who will divulge how whole industries can be turned on their head by being adoptive and brave with new tech.
GITEX: A launchpad for space exploration – and huge prize funds
The GITEX Supernova Challenge has returned bigger and bolder for 2018. The competition – which runs across eight categories, including best AI, Emirati, female-led and youth start-up – received more than 200 entries from 40 different countries. The winners will be announced on Wednesday, with this year’s prize pool totalling US$180,000.
Government and industry leaders from Accenture, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and King’s College Hospital, London, will also be probing start-ups for new ideas to meet their own unique challenges across four Innovation Cups.
Trixie LohMirmand, Senior Vice President, Events Management, Dubai World Trade Centre, organisers of GITEX, said: “GITEX is about celebrating and giving real-world value to the future tech designed to make our lives happier, easier and more exploratory than ever before. Our participating creatives, from our exhibitors, to speakers, to hundreds of competition entrants and thousands of visitors and investors, will discover, get to grips with and eventually harness the digital technologies that, through creative working partnerships, will revolutionise our way of living. We are very proud of that and are delighted to be underway.”
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