Opening Keynotes by Murat Sönmez and Kenza Ait Si Abbou

We are entering a new chapter in human development: Extraordinary technologies merge the physical, digital and biological worlds. The speed, breadth and depth of this revolution is forcing us to rethink how countries develop, how organisations create value and even what it means to be human. At #mthcon2020 we will kick-off both conference days with sharp analysis and visionary commitment: In their keynotes, two exceptional speakers will highlight how we – as professionals, as consumers and as human beings – must take responsibility when interacting with technology.

As Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and Head of the Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Murat Sönmez is dedicated to building ground-breaking collaborations between cities, public authorities and tech pioneers: “It is not about technology for technology's sake, but about how we can improve the lives of citizens. If we do not deliberately act against it, only the privileged few will take advantage of technologies like wearables, AI, etc. – while the gap that has been widening for forty years will continue to grow and we will reach a point of no return.”*

In his opening keynote “What It Means to Be Human. How MediaTech Shapes the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, Sönmez will give a deep insight on how world leaders of countries, international companies and institutions are dealing with the change we so urgently need to address.

“We Are All Digital Prosumers, Let’s Use Our Power Responsibly!” – this is Kenza Ait Si Abbou's plea as a prelude to the second conference day. Kenza is Senior Manager for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Deutsche Telekom IT and was awarded with the “Digital Female Leader Award” as well as with the “Engineer Power Women Award”. Her mission is to create a public understanding of technology and AI, thus working against racism, fascism, chauvinism and discrimination that are reproduced and magnified by AI. Because the way technology depicts and reproduces realities is not (only) up to its developers: “We all shape how technology is built, being aware of it is the first step towards shaping it responsibly“, is one of Kenza’s key messages on our blog.

In August 2020, Kenza published her first Book “Keine Panik, ist nur Technik“ (Don't panic, it's just technology!).

We are far from panicking, but the keynotes of these two fascinating speakers are definitive must-sees within the #mthcon2020 programme on November 11 and 12. Make sure you don’t miss them and book your ticket now.

*Murat Sönmez in the documentary: The Forum, 2019