The week of BNEW2024 is over, what a week!
We are filled with sadness, because the conferences, the guest panels, the networking and the atmosphere of business and professional optimism that covered all the days of this incredible event are over.
But we also leave full of joy, because we learned a lot during the 4 days of the event. It is incredible the technological vision that exists on this side of the world. A vision that unfortunately in Latin America we do not have. Latin America has the talent, Europe and North America have the technological infrastructure. Uniting these two factors will be key for the rest of the century.
And it was precisely on talent that the last day's panels revolved.
As you may know from my previous BNEW2024 summaries, during each day the conferences and guest panels revolved around cross-cutting themes, which were: aviation, human talent, sustainability, health, mobility and digital industry.
The last day closed with the theme of talent, with incredible topics for debate and discussion! and pitches from participating startups. Let's see.
My favorite conferences, with topics of high importance, due to my professional interests on the FinTech and Blockchain topic were:
Senior Talent. It could be because I already have gray hair! But without a doubt it is a very important topic to include this silver generation in technological advances. Basically because those of us over 40 years old are people who have experience and background, something that the new generations do not have. It is therefore very important for seniors to keep up to date, qualified and well trained on market innovations. In Spain, and in Europe in general, opportunities are being given to people of this generation who decide to continue being part of the productive environment. And the invited experts concluded that yes, experience is a key factor in accompanying the new generations, who will one day repeat the cycle.
The power of female talent. While it is true that there is a lot of talk about extreme and senseless feminism in the world, I am one of those who think that instead of separating and making enemies between men and women, we must understand that we can work and develop together, on equal terms. And the guests at this panel discussion made it very clear: companies with women in key positions tend to be more productive. But there are also other not so pleasant facts: In Spain, only 25% of technology-related jobs are held by women. In other words, we are facing a great opportunity to empower, educate, guide and teach young women, so that they can be the CEOs of the future.
Another of my favorite conferences of the day was The role of young people in the new economy, which I just witnessed before traveling to Europe! Just a week before this tour we held the Digital Camp - Generation Z, an initiative that was definitely successful, and brought 40 young participants closer to the use of Zcash. In this panel the guests emphasized the power of education, and of the pressing need to get mentors, advisors and facilitators in the technological, digital and technical areas, that allow young people to integrate early into productive professional life. Education is the way! Fortunately, in Spain, and specifically in Catalonia, there is a lot of openness to technological projects for young people. Will we soon make a Digital Camp on Zcash in this region?
After the panels and conferences, we had the opportunity to see the pitches of different startups that make life in Dfactory, the hub where BNEW2024 was held.
Incredible projects!
The 5 pitches we were able to see were about:
- Cybersecurity for SMEs
- Consulting with AI
- Logistics with VR
- Building maintenance with AI
After this, there was another day of tasting of gastronomic products with some local entrepreneurs, a little more networking, and that was it!
BNEW2024 closed, in its 5th edition, but the first for me. Undoubtedly, an impeccable event, with impressive logistics and quality, which every entrepreneur in Spain should attend.
Surely we will see each other next year, in the next edition.
Here you can see the Live we made, as a summary of the day.
And here are some photos of the day:
