Sime 2019 It’s getting real – letter from Ola Ahlvarsson

LET’S BUILD A BETTER AND MORE BEAUTIFUL FUTURE!
The world keeps changing. Digitalization is moving into a new phase where words that were previously only exciting or scary on a powerpoint presentation start shedding victims and creating winners in a very concrete way. All over the field disruption is getting very real. And as always, the coin has two sides.
We see new exciting companies, business models, services and ways to communicate. Land-winnings in healthcare, education and transportation. Promising technologies as AI, VR and Quantum.
On the other hand. The retail industry is being taken apart by Amazon, Alibaba and new entrants. Industrial giants are put under pressure from new competitors and technological land-winnings, with factories going from bolt to bits where AI is the war cry and mass unemployment the fear. The car industry grapples with new business models. The media and entertainment industries reinvent themselves, as does the finance sector, healthcare, education, transportation and even our political institutions …not to mention fake news, cyber threats and biased algorithms.
Seeing the dramatic role of technology as a change agent we see the need to join forces and secure that the land-winnings are being used for creating good.
At Sime we love to explore things, in a playful way. But also to take concrete action.
Who will be left behind? Who will disrupt? What are the traits and tricks of successful industry transformers? How do we make sense? What does it take to stay relevant? And what does it take to be human in the machine age.
These are some of the questions seeking answers when we transform Epicenter Stockholm into a Sime land of digital opportunities for the 25th edition of Sime.
This year’s theme is mastering momentum and with less than a week to go I’m super excited about the program and the speaker line-up, with Tim Leberecht, the German-American prolific thought leader arguing for “business romantics” in the machine age, Jack Hidary, director of highly topical areas of Quantum and AI at Alphabet X, the innovative heart of Google, Helene Barnekow CEO of Microsoft Sweden and one of our most respected leaders, Helena Samsioe, creating a better world with drones with her startup GLOBHE, Per Sundin, building a new entertainment hub, Space, in central Stockholm, Elin Öberg Mårtenzon launching unbiased HR robots, and last but not least, the super talented performer and thought leader Natasha Tsakos and her new project Human node.
Just to mention a few.
We will discuss how technology will impact the way we do business, the society we live in and our lives as human beings. For good and for bad.
We have the choice. Our bold goal is to build a better future. Let’s do it!
Hope to see you at Sime.
Yours Sincerely,
Ola Ahlvarsson, creator of Sime
Sime is the iconic event on digital opportunities. It takes place at Epicenter Stockholm, November 13-14
Register at sime.nu/tickets