Tallinn Digital Summit 2019 - Reflections
Last week I had the good fortune to be an attendee at the Tallinn Digital Summit. In the words of the organisers;
“Tallinn Digital Summit is where the frontrunners of digital nations drive the global conversation on digitalization.
Over the course of a day political leaders, policy innovators, thought-leaders, entrepreneurs and tech-community spotlight the most topical matters of digital transformation and tackle questions about its implications on economies, societies and governments. TDS is an annual meeting place for enhancing practical sharing of ideas and lessons to chase the opportunities of digital transformation for economy, e-governance development as well as societies. Also, to shape a more coherent approach to challenges brought by digital transformation.”
AI - Artificial Intelligence - was this year’s theme and they absolutely delivered.
Before spending some time writing about my main takeaway here are some general thoughts about the conference.
Many people still don’t appreciate just how much Estonia is a global leader when it comes to digital engagement and advanced thinking. A ‘young’ nation which has existed in it’s liberated form only since 1990 it has harnessed tech to punch above its weight so much so that larger countries look towards it, for example Nicky Morgan the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport was in attendance throughout, and a panel participant.
Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP
One day conferences are the way to go. Efficient and concentrated without being rushed this was the perfect 24 hours if you include the welcome dinner the previous evening through to the goodbye drinks.
A well qualified guest list, strong speakers and panelists and expert moderation made all the difference - looking back on other conferences I’ve been to I can see how much filler they include. This was A+
As for the content itself I enjoyed and benefited in two ways;
Exposure to real and credible examples of where AI, although I do prefer machine learning, is making a difference, clearly commercial applications are visible to many of us but the conference exposed me to the wider spectrum in healthcare and sustainable development.
Understanding the tension that exits between unalloyed advocates of AI, those who see the benefits but want the right ethical framework in place and finally those who represent the human angle.
That last point was best brought home to me through the prism of three contributors in particular.
Stephen Hsu - Senior Vice-President for Research and Innovation at Michigan State University
Nanjira Sambuli - Senior Policy Manager World Wide Web Foundation
Joanna J Bryson - Academic Expert in Artificial and Natural Intelligence, University of Bath
Paraphrasing (badly), Stephen was in the school of let’s crack on and deliver the enormous societal benefits that can, and do, flow from machine learning. Some of the predictive examples he gave would allow so much anticipation of needs and capacity in health. His sense of urgency was compelling.
Nanjira spoke eloquently about the need for the rights of the individual - what happens to those learnings, who owns the data, who gives permission. Listening to her brought home that fact that many of us as both individuals and collectively are just way too blasé about giving up our information and our permissions -or worse having them taken from us.
And that left me pondering the most on Joanna who seemed to sum it all up in this tweet;
“Sorry NO ONE should trust AI that’s anthropomorphic thinking. Trust is a human relationship — AI should be built with transparency so we can decide whether to trust its providers, and hold them accountable.”
This triumvirate seemed to capture the inherent tension in the topic - the need for speed, the need for a framework and the need for individual rights.
That theme emerged repeatedly but never slowed things down and I think that is a function of contributors who actually had something to say.
Being in a room with smart people (my rule in life is if you are the smartest person in the room you are in the wrong room) who are working on the bleeding edge of a technology is a great way to spend 24 hours in Tallinn, not that this is the only way !
Opening Remarks from the Estonian Prime Minister
You can watch the opening remarks by Jüri Ratas the Estonian Prime Minister and then click through to all of the main and breakout sessions recorded in their entirety on the Summit’s YouTube Channel.
About The Author
The author is a brand consultant at The Izatt Consultancy and founder of Mission Critical, a highly focused and curated weekly briefing for time poor and information hungry decision makers. Both activities are run using Estonia’s eResidency program and the support of Xolo.
