LEADERSHIP
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W eb Summit has arguably become the world ’ s most important technology conference since its inauguration 10 years ago . But what does the Lisbon-based event have to offer from an Asian perspective ? An increasing amount , it turns out . Speaking to Pitchbook , cofounder Paddy Cosgrove hailed the increasing presence of Asian companies and investors at last November ’ s edition of the conference . “ One of the biggest areas of [ investor ] growth has been China ,” said Cosgrove . “ We have Chinese and Japanese translations for the very first time on stage . And that kind of reflects the demographic and geographic change .”
On the subject of China , one of the most heavily promoted talks coming from the chairman of Chinese technology firm Huawei , Guo Ping . Guo ’ s talk focused on Huawei ’ s conception of 5G + X . “ This ‘ X ’ can be AI , big data , VR or AR , among other technologies ,” said Guo . “ I believe that in the future , 5G + X will create countless opportunities for entrepreneurs ,” he went on to say , comparing the potential of the technology to the introduction of electricity . “ The rollout of 5G commercial networks is occurring more [ quickly ] than expected . As of now , 40 carriers in over 20 countries are using 5G networks commercially . We predict that by the end of this year , we will see 60 commercial 5G networks .”
JANUARY 2020