A Web Summit Inspired 2020

The Web Summit is not just a technology conference…it’s business, it’s design, it’s marketing, it’s film, it’s photography and so much more than you ever thought it would be.

The Web Summit blew my mind, the most inspiring conference I’ve ever been to!

I attended Web Summit as part of the Women in Tech initiative, which encourages women to go to amazing events like this. Over 70,000 people descended on Lisbon for Web Summit, and 46% of those were women.

With the Atlica Arena as center stage and 15 other stages there were so many amazing speakers to go and see, from big brands such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Garmin, Mozilla, IKEA, Wikipedia, Giphy and Lucasfilm. Some of my favourite speakers were Edward Snowdon, Kate Brandt, Katherine Maher, Alex Chung, Werner Vogels, Paige VanZant, Daniel Grieder, Ian Bernstein, Mohen Leo and Rankin.

So here’s what I learned at the Web Summit and how this will inspire us in 2020…

• Data is bigger than ever, GDPR was the stepping stone last year. We all need our technology to protect data and privacy better, working on creating better practices this year is a must.
• AI is here, machine learning is incredible. 2020 is the year for embracing AI to create cool and interactive experiences.
• Robots have gone mainstream, they are much more accessible for everyday use now. Watch this space, experimentation will be happening in the studio.
• VR is big in the film industry, it’s being used to create virtual sets for CGI and animators are using it to create 3D models right in live scenes which is just incredible. Thinking about how we can use VR to help us in our everyday work and how it can help our clients.
• Voice interfaces are everywhere now, language is the most powerful and effective tool we have in the world. Experimenting with voice this year to help create better user experiences.
• Winning at social is a must, choosing stories that matter to your audience not yourself is important, storytelling is everything. We love social and create engaging stories but we will be pushing this even more in 2020.
• Digital brand experiences need to be human and relevant. This is at the heart of the Dodgems & Floss's Ethos, so this is ever evolving.
• Creative thinking is everything, if you don’t experiment you don’t know what the problem is. Learning and trying out new techniques and new technologies to evolve with the times. Design should be driven by research and data, and this fuels our creativity.