Dates: September 21-22, 2017 | Request invitation here
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Get ready for NEXT17!
Two days, more than 1,300 digital minds, vibrant and inspiring atmosphere: Join the conversation on how emerging technologies and digital products are shaping the world we live in – and explore what that implies for you and your business at NEXT Conference 2017 at Reeperbahn, Hamburg.
On September 21/22, you can watch inspiring keynotes, participate in interactive workshops and meet digital thought leaders in unusual networking formats. The NEXT theme of 2017 will be DIGITAL SUCKS. Together with international forethinkers, we will ask ourselves the big questions on how to build a better digital future.
DIGITAL SUCKS!
Can we be honest? Digital sucks … greatly! There is a nagging feeling that a lot of all digital stuff somehow goes terribly wrong. Oftentimes, digital products simply don’t live up to their promises, leaving users in a kind of limbo between overpromise and underdelivery.
Take for example Twitter. For a while, it looked promising. But then we got Trump. We enjoyed our Uber rides, only to witness a full-blown meltdown. Or think Internet of Things. We hoped for a future of connected devices, but what we’re experiencing instead are massive botnets that take down large parts of the internet and lightbulbs that are vulnerable to virus attacks.
Digital sucks! Or doesn’t it? One thing is for sure: We live in a beta world. Nothing digital ever seems to be finished, and we’re always waiting for the next update. With each update, old bugs are fixed – and new ones introduced at the same time. We’re constantly living at the bleeding edge, taking high risks in our usage of technology and tools.
Did we end up with a white elephant? We cannot dispose of our digital possessions, but the costs are all too often way higher than their usefulness.
The same question can be asked with regard to the digital transformation, especially looking at the return on sky-high investments most companies made over the course of the last few years. Loads of time and money went into shiny new digital projects, but did the probability of surviving for these companies increase accordingly? Or do they still face the same huge risks of disruption? The software is eating the world, as Marc Andreessen famously put it.
How could it happen that the land of digital utopia, populated with unicorns, might turn into a dystopian nightmare? Every revolution comes with a cost. This cost may be too high from many people’s perspectives, but do these people get a say? Ironically, it was the relentless focus on the user of digital technology, the consumer and human being, that made many things digital so overwhelmingly successful. The same user who gained lots of value from technology now feels that the price he has to pay in the end may be too high.
Apply now for NEXT17
On September 21st and 22nd, 2017 international speakers will share their knowledge with you in talks, experience formats and master classes. Connect with amazing people and join the conversation on how to build a better digital future. Explore what that implies for you, your life and your business.
Being part of NEXT17 is the best possible way to prepare for the upcoming opportunities and challenges. As the NEXT Conference is an invitation-only event, please provide some information about yourself on the application form.
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