All good things come in threes: Way2Global and SingularityU renew their partnership

For the second year, we had the honour and duty of providing our interpreting services at the 2019 SingularityU Italy Summit as a language partner.

The partnership between Way2Global and the SingularityU Summit began last year, for the second Italian edition of the event, and was consolidated this year at two events: SingularityU Spain Summit in Madrid in February and the Italian Summit last week at Mi.Co. in Milan.

Singularity University (SU) is a global community of thinkers, scientists, communicators and entrepreneurs that aims to spread a culture of innovation based on exponential technologies to face the great challenges of humanity and to build a future of abundance for all. Its partner organizations include Google and UNICEF.

Singularity University’s international summits are two-day conferences organized every year all over the world. They are a meeting point, a place of inspiration, a catalyst for accelerating the local culture of innovation and a platform for all those working on impactful initiatives.

So for the third time our interpreters enabled a large international audience to follow the event in their native language, giving voice to outstanding speakers who came — from places as far afield as Silicon Valley, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Australia — to the Mi.Co.stage to reveal the latest trends in acceleration technologies such as artificial intelligence, financial technology, robotics, biotechnology, the Internet of Things and smart cities.

It was no easy task for our simultaneous interpreters: varied and complex topics, images, metaphors, data, analysis, neuroscience, blockchain… Two days of bombardment as speakers jumped from one theme to the next, from one field to another, from an idea to a case study, in a whirlwind of seamless stimuli.

After all, this was the key theme: We live in a complex system, whose lowest common denominator is constant and continuous change, which is revolutionizing all sectors, triggered by exponential technological innovation and artificial intelligence.

Precisely for this reason, a cohort of speakers from the most different backgrounds attended to tell us about the wonderful, complex process of evolution in which we are immersed: from Pascal Finette and Jeffrey Rogers from the Singularity University team based at the NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, to scientist, engineer and biotechnology expert Raymond McCauley, Massimo Pellegrino of the Global Responsible Artificial Intelligence Leadership Team at PwC, veterinarian and virologist Ilaria Capua, Christopher Kutarna, author of the bestseller “Age of Discovery: Navigating the Storms of Our Second Renaissance”, and the inventor of the microprocessor, Federico Faggin.

These different points of view described wide-ranging innovation, made up of many converging technologies in an era in which, for the first time in human history, “EVERYONE has the power to innovate and change the world, not only large companies and nations” (Pascal Finette). The central theme and common thread of the summit was artificial intelligence (AI), an exponential technology that is increasingly powerful and present in our daily lives.

“Robots are gaining space in our lives. They now even play football! We have to stop being afraid and start finding a way to work with them. We shouldn’t fear technology: When we invented fire we burned ourselves, but the advantages have always outweighed the disadvantages.” (Carlo Van de Weijer).

“In the last 10 years, the presence of robots in the workplace has risen by 16% and there is not a single sector today that is not considering how to integrate AI into its business. There is a strong fear that they will replace us, but the data refute this alarmism, so the right question to ask remains: how can we integrate AI in an ethical and transformative way?” There are endless possibilities, but the important thing is never to underestimate the human factor. Technology changes work, but it will never replace the need for the human factor.”(Anka Gajentaan).

“AI allows us to redesign everything: even nature. We are creating things that did not exist before, like gods. The power of machines is unstoppable: we are witnessing the start of a glorious era in which the power of machines collaborates with mankind’s creativity.” (Inma Martinez).

It is clear that we have a powerful ally, but what is the mission? What should we do with this crazy tool?

We should change the world, for the better.

“As guardians of the planet, we must use all the tools at our disposal to preserve it. WE are the people who can do this! WE have the power and WE have the responsibility!”(Ilaria Capua)

“The major global challenges, such as climate change, poverty and inequality, are an opportunity to generate ideas that must be the seed of transformation and change.” (Jorgen van der Sloot).

But innovating, changing in a disruptive way to “be the future” is by no means simple: It takes awareness, conviction, self-sacrifice, positivity and, above all, the courage to dive into the unknown and trust in what is different.

“The bravest penguin is the first to dive from the pack ice, without knowing if he will find water or ice beneath. Right now we need bold penguins that lead the way and throw themselves into change.”(Kris Østergaard).

“Christopher Columbus is a case in point: losing your way is an opportunity to make new discoveries.” (Christopher Kutarna).

“Design the future. Build the future. Be the future.” – This was the slogan of an extraordinary event that certainly could not be missed by Way2Global, a changemaker that uses progress, technology, experimentation and change as cornerstones of its vision of the Language Industry 4.0 – a hi-tech industry that we want to help evolve in an inclusive way, keeping people at the heart of the business.

This is our mission, as well as the goal of all our Research & Development projects, which, together with the fact that we are a B Corp and our desire to contribute to building a better future for all, we share with SingularityU in a partnership that has proven successful once again this year.

“We live in an era of unimaginable opportunities. We have infinite power at our disposal: increasingly powerful technology, available to everyone. What do we want to do with it? In a continually evolving world, we all have the opportunity to become something new: What will you become? What will your companies become? The future needs you, all of you!” (Jeffrey Rogers).

“Think big!” (Amin Toufani).

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our brilliant interpreters who distinguished themselves with the very high quality of their simultaneous translation, making a huge contribution to the event’s internationalization.