Web Summit 2018 – Our summary.

1. Web Summit-2018. Lisbon. Portugal

Web Summit is an annual event that amazes with its level of implementation. Despite the word “Web” in the title, Summit covers much more topics and fields.

This year the conference was attended by almost 70 thousand people and about 1,800 startups were represented there. More than 1,200 speakers from different parts of the world performed on its stages, including Tim Berners-Lee the creator of the World Wide Web, Brad Smith – President at Microsoft Corporation, Young Sohn – President at Samsung Electronics, Adrian Cockcroft Vice President at Amazon Web Services and others.

Entrepreneurs from various fields like finance, medicine, transport, education, sports, etc. are coming here to show their developments and see how to manage a business in the conditions of development growth, find investors and expand the contacts network.

Almost all free space in the pavilions is divided into thematic zones and occupied by startups presentation stands. Stands are very small (about 1 sq. m) so there is no place for full branding. All bets are on a good presentation, visual materials, and your pitch.

Web Summit is about networking. The main mission of the event is to find useful contacts. A lot of participants are open to communication. Remember about it.

2. Tendencies and trends.

All that huge amount of speakers talk and debate on panels across 24 stages, and the only thing you have to figure out is which talks you simply cannot miss. Our team has tried to make the whole picture and here are trends that we get:

1. Web Summit gives a possibility to see a great example of state and business synergy.
   The next 10 years, Web Summit will take place precisely in Lisbon. Organizers have concluded with the Portugal Government a contract for 110 million euros. The coordinators get confidence in the future, and the Portuguese plan to develop the country as a world center of technologies and innovations.
2. The more complex technologies become, the harder it is to distinguish the truth from the lie.
   The context of the IT Summit was that in the near future technologies related to data verification could be of particular importance: e.g., tools for fact-checking and tracking of first hand.
3. Robotization of the future.
   The idea is not new, but it discussed on Web Summit intensively. The fact that robot can make monotonous actions very accurately and almost without nonstop is a very strong argument. Nowadays, with the self-learning and artificial intelligence development, robots are able to make not only the most trivial actions but difficult also, and without human intervention.
4. Content monetization and anti-piracy campaign.
   The paid subscription is developing (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.), for 2017–2023 its growth is predicted by 2 times. Streaming platforms with high-quality content are developing in the world with dramatic stories, product placement, and eternal values. Subscriptions in applications create a new level of comfort for a person that is difficult to refuse. The main direction for business is the creation of a large community around their product based on free (trial or basic access) and its conversion into paid subscriptions.
5. IoT rapidly captures new industries.
   Remote device control systems become a common practice. Kitchen devices, home appliances, support systems that can be controlled by the Internet became a common thing. But we must remember that all new opportunities impose new obligations so the level of security should be appropriate. Neglecting information security makes countries, companies, and people vulnerable.
6. Marketplaces and automation systems.
   The separation between unique and mass products is more noticeable. The best decision for a mass product is a marketplace, for unique – are individual trading platforms.

Don’t try to visit all events – it’s impossible! Set up an approximate schedule and visit the most relevant speeches. Remember, this is the only one way to get into the community of like-minded people and not miss the most important.

3. Own impressions

Web Summit gives you a lot of possibilities. It is worth to visit for inspiration, but you need to have a clear understanding of your interests, what you are looking for and what you want to get from this event as a result. This is not a training where you will be taught something. People who are in focus should go there. Most of the people there are in search: money, projects, ideas, etc.. This is a huge platform for finding contacts and expanding your professional network. One of the most important things about the Web Summit is, perhaps, that you need to be prepared well. Because when opportunities are huge and time is limited – it is very difficult to use them fully and easy to lose it.

Be ready for presentations in advance, make appointments before the event, prepare interesting questions and then WebSummit will be very productive for you.

4. Conclusions and perspectives

You need to visit such events to understand what is going on in the world and feel how it changes. As a matter of fact, being there, you feel the pulse of Information Technologies.
If you are interested in communication with entrepreneurs from around the world, to find investors, know new tendencies and say that you saw Elon Musk alive – come. Even if you don’t work in startup and don’t look for investment, Web Summit is a great place above all else for networking and gathering content and especially if you thought about startup or already working on it. This conference can be a good place for you to get feedbacks and sharpen your pitch, and its atmosphere will be a perfect positive reinforcement.