Web Summit 2019: Highlights of The 4th (And Last) Day ♦ Web Summit’s fourth and final day ended Thursday with new startups at FIL, and the main stage at Altice Arena was named after Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut founder Kumi Naidoo, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, Věra Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Republic. Secrets From Portugal brings you all about the last Web Summit day that was closed by the President of the Republic, who stressed the political dimension of the event.
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The fourth edition of the Web Summit in Lisbon was closed by the President of the Republic, who stressed the political dimension of the event. Speaking in English, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that “in a sense, the Web Summit anticipated the key changes of the technological revolution.” Recalling past editions, the President listed the themes that have been on the scene since 2016: privacy, climate change, trade wars, the need for political multilateralism, Europe’s role in the world, manipulation by political and economic powers. “Portugal has changed with Web Summit and the world is changing with Web Summit,” he said. “We have no problem approaching all topics freely.”
Huawei, for its part, was this year one of the main sponsors of the Web Summit. The company has a mobile phone business threatened by US sanctions that prevent it from using Google’s services, which are essential for many consumers in the west. On the opening day of the event, Huawei Chairman Guo Ping took the stage to promote the company’s role in building 5G infrastructures – precisely the role the US has been striving to diminish by pushing other countries. (including in Europe) not to resort to Chinese technology because of what the Donald Trump Administration says are security fears.
The path of traditional banks will be the same as that of digital banking: in the coming years, they will “copy absolutely everything” what the “fintech” are doing. But they will do so based on the same cost infrastructure that they already operate, heavy and not flexible. And that’s why companies like Revolut guarantee that they will hardly accept being bought by a major bank. Only with “independence” can they achieve success. The ideas were aired on Thursday, November 7, at the Web Summit’s main stage, where the leaders of three major fintech speakers spoke: Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut founder and president, Zach Perret, Plaid president and co-founder, and Anne Boden, president of Starling Bank.
Robots as smart as “a thousand human brains,” a remedy for the “daily pain of not knowing what to cook,” and basketball drills that are like tech lessons. In the tech language that Prime Minister António Costa has already learned, what Lisbon has seen in recent days has been the arrival of “a vibrant ecosystem”. Report from the last day of the 2019 Web Summit.
The numbers are not yet final, but the organization has already counted more than 70,000 participants from 163 countries, and more than 2,000 startups who came to Lisbon looking for an opportunity to grow their ideas and businesses. It’s already the fourth year in Lisbon and it may sound like a cliché, but most of the people we spoke to still love the city and show great enthusiasm for the conference, conferences and speaker alignment that Web Summit can muster, but also for the Night Summit that always has unforgettable moments.
Thursday was the fourth and last day of another edition of Web Summit in Portugal. Summit returns for the year, as the City of Lisbon and the founder of the event signed an agreement to hold it in Portugal by 2028.