Doha, Qatar – Web Summit, one of the world's largest technology conferences, opened in Qatar's capital on Monday, with entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders gathering in the heart of Doha under flashing lights.
The event, the first of its kind in the Middle East, brings together participants from dozens of countries, hoping to make new connections, share insights and secure funding over four days.
At the start of the proceedings, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced that the Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund will invest more than $1 billion in international and regional venture capital funds.
The program, named 'Fund of Funds', aims to foster innovation by attracting top international venture capital funds and entrepreneurs to both Qatar and the Gulf region.
The initiative to boost the start-up sector builds on Qatar's aspirations to become a regional IT hub.
Al Thani said at the conference that “entrepreneurship is showing leadership across the Middle East” and that Qatar is “the perfect backdrop for the Web Summit, with its commitment to technological advancement and vibrant community of thinkers and creators.” ”.
The topic of artificial intelligence (AI) was the highlight of this year's forum, the largest gathering of international startups in the region as the region reels from the aftermath of Israel's war in Gaza. This is to commemorate this.
Both are passions of Amjad Massad, founder of Replit, an online programming community.
“I'm a technologist at heart,” the Jordanian-American CEO, whose father is a Palestinian refugee, said at the summit.
“I think technology can be used for the forces of good, but the situation in Gaza has nothing to do with technology. You can't eat AI,” he added, to thunderous applause.
The headline speaker for the first day of the Web Summit was Trevor Noah, former host of the Emmy Award-winning show “The Daily Show.”
What you probably don't know about the South African comedian is that he is heavily invested in the technology sector and is the 'Chief Questions Officer' for tech giant Microsoft.
Noah's role includes hosting a multi-episode series in which he discusses with guests how AI is being used to solve global problems.
“I've never stopped loving technology and I've never stopped trying to learn all the ways it can be used effectively,” Noah said at the summit.
“We often [say], “Will technology replace us? Well, I think that means we have to have a very limited definition of what 'we' are,” he added. Ta. “Technology has always replaced what people have been doing, or how people have done it. But people have remained, so the bigger question we have to ask ourselves is: I think it's about how AI redefines what humans need or want to do. I think that's the bigger question.”
“Bridge to Globalization”
As more speakers took to the stage, entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world began to connect at sold-out events, with QR code scanning replacing the traditional exchange of business cards.
In fact, Doha's Exhibition and Convention Center is expected to transform into a hub of innovation and networking over the next three days.
Participants include so-called “impact startups” focused on improving lives through advances in healthcare and sustainable technology.
Zeyad Genena, who works at Canada-based energy company Hydro One, said he is interested in learning more about AI.
“We are beginning to implement [AI] Our work involves many things, in addition to[ting] To learn about different energy companies and how they are transforming,” Jenena, an academic and one of the young professionals participating in the summit, told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Heidi Rath, managing director of US-based Everest, said she hopes to secure funding for her company's water facilities in Bangladesh.
Alex Chernenko, CEO of Translit, a startup focused on AI-based translation, will be speaking on a number of panels this week about the future of translation and AI.
“We talk about how communication will change with the help of artificial intelligence…Language barriers[s] [are] This is a problem that needs to be resolved,” Chernenko, who flew from Ireland to the conference, told Al Jazeera.
For Arezu Aghasey, attending this year's Web Summit is like a full-circle moment.
She last attended the forum as an academic 10 years ago, and now attends the conference in Doha, spearheads portfolio management at venture capital firm Crea in San Francisco, US, and invests in startups. is scouting.
“My focus is on finding startups.” [and] How can we take them from the MENA region and bring them to Silicon Valley and vice versa?'' Agassiz told Al Jazeera.
“So let's build bridges for globalization.”