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Something Digital…

On the 1 November, the inaugural Something Digital festival was held at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Celebrating all things digital, the organisers worked with 64 organisations to bring fresh, up-to-the-minute information without any of the fluff/BS that can be thrown around the tech world at times.

After a welcome by Cat Matson, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for the City of Brisbane, there were a series of presentations and International Keynote Speakers including Adam Bonnifield from Airbus, Mariana Dahan from World Identity Network, Caroline Sinders, and Justin Hendrix from NYC Media Labs.

Presentations ranged from:

  • Artificial Intelligence and how a collection of narrow intelligences will drive advancement, rather than a self aware, singularity.
  • Using blockchain as a way to help at risk individuals have a safe, secure form of identification.
  • How robotics is (slowly) gaining traction in Australia within manufacturing, agricultural and logistics industries.
  • The possibilities mobile 5G connectivity will bring us in the very near future. Expecting it to drive the “Internet of things” with 50 billion connected devices in the next three years. Bringing our digital and real life persona closer together through Augmented and Virtual Reality. Powering the disruption of even more industries – much like we have already witnessed by companies such as Uber and Airbnb.

The driving theme throughout the day wasn’t about technology for technologies sake. It was about using it for real world applications that will help us each and every day. The idea is not to replace people with these emerging technologies, rather enhance working experiences and free-up time for better customer service.

Ethics within the digital space was discussed at length as well. With scandals like the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data making headlines around the world, there needs to be better safeguards of our private information. he use of Blockchain technologies could be one way to address these concerns in the future.

It was an intense day of information to take in – but very engaging and positive! It was great to see the vibrant digital economy Brisbane has to offer. Showcasing that we are not only a digital force within Australia, we are a digital force on the global stage as well.

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