Climbing the Tech Summit
Riding the digital waves, I surfed right into the KCL Tech Summit 2023: King’s College is Where Minds Ignite and Innovations Take Flight!
My time during my MSc. was unprecedented, but also inspiring. A period marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, where our social interactions were limited, our libraries and cafés closed , and virus fear spread like wildfire both across the campus and the city.
We were caught off guard.
However, and thanks to the wonders of Tech, my fellow students and I managed to stay together through all of it, sharing our experiences and taking care of each other during challenging times. They all stepped up to listen and help.
We also got plenty of support from the Uni to complete our papers and projects, and so our MScs. I remember sensing how vital it was to keep a cool head, and be able to do some critical reasoning in what we lived to be a glitch in time and space.
Eyeballs were drawn to social media and news platforms. The social atmosphere was marked by growing tensions, as people grappled with fear, uncertainty, and divisive debates over public health measures. Society was becoming deeply polarised. Mass media mirrored it.
During my degree in emerging markets & international development, I focused on think tanks, MNEs and the rise of social media activism. I also got to research how the different technological advances had real life applications across all industries, influencing countries in various degrees of development.
Looking back at the pandemic in 2020, I see how #Web2 marked all my social interactions: I used Strava to track my runs, MS Teams, Zoom and Google Meets and Drive to do most of my studying and work, Houseparty (if most of you remember) to connect with friends from all over and unwind.
Now, with my eyes on the horizon, I’m excited about #Web3.
Why? Because it is the future. Because it embodies the internet of value.
Technology is already influencing our everyday lives deeply.
Blockchain technology and decentralised networks will revolutionise the way we connect, communicate, and collaborate. Decentralised Finance (DeFi) might have been taking the lead, but all industries will undergo deep changes — defence, public sector applications, art and entertainment, real estate to name a few -
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) means trust is distributed among us, rather than being outsourced to a third party. Transparency, and user empowerment are at the core of digital interactions.
Understanding the next natural evolution of the internet is paramount for Us to collaborate and thrive as future societies.
A place like KCL helped me shape my thinking, gave me the possibility to meet peers from the most diverse places from all around the world, and showed me and that collaboration has no bounds.
Now, as a professional in the growing field of Communications and Web3, I recognise these traits in my industry, and I am happy to be back (home) to share my journey and views with you.
#MyTechJourney #TechSummit #ForeverKings
