Web Summit 2017

Chief scientist at Hanson Robotics Ben Goertzel is also looking to level the playing field in artificial intelligence and challenge the concentration of power. In 2018, he plans to launch SingularityNET, a decentralized open market for AI which will be underpinned by blockchain technology. The market will bring together disparate AIs focused on narrow tasks and allow them to work together to learn from one another.

The buzz topic of fake news and tech’s influence over the news agenda also got an airing, with Joseph Kahn of the New York Times arguing that tech companies now have unprecedented influence over public debate, which “goes beyond what they envisaged.” He added, “None of these platforms has thought about how they should exercise this power.”

The growing sexual harassment media storm cast its shadow too, with Victoria’s Secret model Sara Sampaio relating her experience at the hands of Lui magazine, which she says, published nude images of her without consent. A panel discussion entitled “Sexism in the Valley” brought the theme closer to home. Christine Herron, a Silicon Valley investor who advises the business incubator StartX, said that women in the industry had been told “to shut the f*** up about [sexual harassment] forever, and that is not OK.” She explained how investors could put pressure on firms by asking for their policies on sexual harassment as part of the diligence process.

Diversity, an omnipresent issue for tech, was also under discussion. Blake Irving, CEO of web hosting company GoDaddy, told attendees that instead of shifting blame to women for not seeking promotions enough, companies should instead create systems that solve the problem.

Sustainability & Fashion

Another industry that’s facing up to its responsibilities is fashion, the second biggest polluter after the petrochemical industry. The environmental costs of production are extensive, particularly for synthetic fabrics. David Breslauer, co-founder of Bolt Threads, told the audience at the Modum stage that fabrics like polyester take 200 years to decompose. Shreds of fibres are alleged to have found their way into our food supply. Add to this the toxic sludge from the dying process for a major sustainability problem.

Bolt Threads (featured earlier this year in our SXSW roundup) is tackling these issues by creating sustainable fabrics that copy “nature’s blueprints.” The company develops innovative proteins that mimic the properties of spider silk, which are then used to create fabrics that feed rather than harm the environment. The silk is incredibly strong and biodegradable, with anti-microbial properties. Most recently, Bolt Threads collaborated with fashion designer Stella McCartney for a golden silk shift dress featured in the “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Their yarns can now be spun on commercial machines, paving the way to sustainable, high-performance fabrics.

Global luxury group Kering is putting sustainability at the core of its business strategy. Marie-Claire Daveu, the company’s chief sustainability officer, described how the business created an environmental profit and loss scorecard, which measures the performance of not just Kering’s operations but their entire supply chain. With a highly complex supply chain running into the hundreds and thousands of companies, collaboration is vital. The company assigns a Euro monetary value to their impacts, which enables them to identify and prioritize ways to reduce them. The methodology is open source, enabling other fashion businesses to adopt the idea.

In addition, Kering introduced full traceability across its materials and introduced its own Materials Innovation Lab, which promotes the use of sustainable fabrics across the business. The company also collaborates with Plug and Play and Fashion for Good on an accelerator programme for sustainable innovation start-ups in luxury.

As a luxury brand, says Daveu, Kering has a “particular responsibility to show the way” on sustainability for the fashion industry. Their customers are highly supportive, particularly millennials who are increasingly demanding when it comes to traceability, workers’ rights, and impact on the planet. “Sustainability,” says Daveu, “is no longer an option—it’s a necessity.”

Taking to the Skies

Urban transportation is also seeing extreme disruption. While self-driving technology company Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are now ready to the hit the road, other businesses are looking to the skies. At a panel dubbed, “Where We’re Going We Won’t Need Roads: Flying cars are coming,” speakers predicted that a skyscape of flying cars or multicopters will be a commercial reality in just three to five years. Bladerunner was not far off the mark with its prediction of 2019.

German aviation start-up Volocopter hopes to launch its fleet of autonomous air taxis within this timeframe. Backed by Daimler, the company is currently testing its fleet of eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles) in Dubai. Its Volocopter 2X is summoned by smartphone and can fly two people comfortably in its cabin equipped with luxurious leather seats.

Airbus also has several eVTOLs in the works, including CityAirbus, a craft for one to four passengers, and Vahana, for single travellers or cargo.

The benefits of urban air mobility are numerous: easing congestion, lower infrastructure costs, reduced pollution as well as speedier journeys. As Mathias Thomsen, Airbus general manager for urban air mobility, commented, “This is about getting faster from A to B.”

Even this nascent industry is provoking ethical questions, with suggestions that such services are likely to deepen the divide between the haves and have-nots, with those who can afford to soaring above the congested streets.

Uber, which is planning its own fleet of ‘air taxis,’ challenged this notion, saying it would make its service cheaper than running a car. Uber’s Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden pointed to manufacturing at scale, efficient load factors and low maintenance vehicles as just some of the factors that will help keep costs down.

UberAir, which already has plans for services in Dallas and Dubai, announced a Los Angeles launch for 2020, alongside a partnership with NASA on airspace management. While initial flights will be piloted, UberAir trips will ultimately be autonomous. Vehicles will be capable of a 60-mile range on a single charge, with recharging taking less than five minutes.

Saving the Planet

While Web Summit gave the industry something of a rough ride, it also pointed a clear path to its rehabilitation, with speakers from Al Gore to UN Secretary-General António Gutteres urging the industry to use its powers for the good of the planet.

There is plenty to aim for. Robert Opp from the UN World Food Program talked about the agency’s bid to leverage technology to solve hunger by 2030. One in nine people on the planet does not have enough food to it due to natural disaster, conflict, displacement, or poverty. The agency is using machine learning to analyze drone images of disaster-hit areas to quickly understand the situation on the ground, while chatbots are helping to track food insecurity in hard-to-reach areas.

Zurich-based Climeworks is one startup turning carbon emissions into a business opportunity. Co-founder Christoph Gebald explained how their technology captures CO₂ emissions from the air, much like trees do, and then stores it underground, where it becomes mineralized and turns into stone. Their first plant was installed at a geothermal power facility in Iceland, and has achieved negative carbon emissions in testing.

Clean energy firm Lanza Tech is also turning pollution to good use. They ‘ferment’ pollution using patented bacteria to create new chemicals and fuels that may be used in industries like aviation. Chief Scientist Freya Burton sees huge potential in applying this technology to all kinds of industrial facilities from steel mills to landfill plants.