Conference News: Web Summit in Doha; GRF Takes on AI Security; See Healthy Returns

Web Summit Expands (again): Web Summit officially announced last week that it will be expanding into the Middle East with a new event in 2024. The Tech Conference will debut in Qatar at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) on 4-7 March 2024. Web Summit Qatar will be the tech conference’s fifth country expansion. They already host Web Summit in Lisbon, Collision in Toronto, Rise Hong Kong (returning in 2025) and Rio, which will host the group’s first-ever South American event in May.

AI in DC: The Global Resilience Federation (GRF) is a nonprofit provider and hub for cyber, supply chain, physical and geopolitical threat intelligence exchange between information sharing and analysis centers (ISACs), organizations (ISAOs) and computer emergency readiness/response teams (CERTs) from many different sectors and regions around the world. For the first time in 2023, GRF is hosting a Summit on AI Security & Trust that “addresses concerns across sectors and will be tailored for executives such as CIOs, CISOs and AI/ML experts to engage on effective approaches for managing security and trust in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning models.” The Summit will be held from 7 -9 June in Washington D.C.

Speaking Opportunity: Back in person this year, GSMA’s Mobile World Congress/MWC Shanghai is gearing up for it 28-30 June programme by soliciting speaker suggestions today for its three key themes: 5G Transformation, Digital Everything, and Reality+. Anyone interested in proposing a solo presentation, dual speaker session, or panel presentation must submit no later than 5pm CST on Thursday 20 April to be considered. Regardless of your company’s size or history, MWC recommends suggesting speakers who reflect our diverse community.

Conference Manager Q&A: Mark Orsi is CEO, Global Resilience Federation (GRF), a non-profit provider and hub for cyber, supply chain, physical and geopolitical threat intelligence exchange.  As we mentioned above, GRF is hosting their first Summit on AI Security & Trust in June. We caught up with Mark to find out what excites him about this event and learn about the most memorable speakers he’s seen.

Speaker Strategies: Why did you decide to host an event focused on AI security?

We were on a call with Chief Information Security Officers from many different sectors just two weeks after ChatGPT was made generally available. All of them were concerned with how quickly the technology developed and how eager the company was to incorporate Large Language Models (LLMs) into almost every business process. As we’ve seen with other technology shifts, security and trust are often overlooked in the early stages of product development, making it harder, less efficient, and more expensive to add later. There are significant operational and security challenges that must be addressed with ChatGPT and its competitors– and we expect this will be a growing concern over the next several years.

Speaker Strategies: What about your next event excites you the most?

We’ve gathered some insightful speakers to discuss this disruptive technology and how we can ensure the weekly breakthroughs are being paced by ethical use, policy and regulation, and security adaptations. It’s essentially the wild west as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning models move out of the private labs of governments and major corporations and into common use. We’ve only just begun to see the applications of AI. I’m really looking forward to hearing from some folks in academia and private industry who are operating on the bleeding edge of this technology that will fundamentally alter our lives.

Speaker Strategies: Who are some of the most memorable speakers/topics you’ve had at your conferences?

We’ve held a number of conferences focused on cybersecurity and third-party risk, but this will be the inaugural event focused on AI. We already have many name-brand organizations participating, like Microsoft, KPMG, Wells Fargo, Campbell Soup, and others that have put a strong focus on how organizations can use AI/ML safely and effectively. I’m excited to hear from the multiple working groups of industry leaders developing toolkits on AI security that will be released at the conference.

Coming Up Next Week: TED Conference – which began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and remains the source of the cultural phenomenon TED Talks – is held 17-21 April in Vancouver, exploring in 2023 “a strange and beautiful space called the adjacent possible.” Can’t attend in Vancouver? Live and post-event virtual passes can be purchased. At eMerge Americas (20-21 April; Miami), attendees connect the dots between talent, capital and entrepreneurs partaking in the Miami and global tech ecosystems. Convening the global broadcast, media, and entertainment industry, National Association of Broadcasters/NAB Show gets underway 15 April in Las Vegas. Among the topics NAB 2023 will cover include sustainability practices and VR/XR/AR. HIMSS23 (the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Annual Conference & Exhibition) unites players from across the global health information and technology spectrum, when it’s held 17-12 April in Chicago. And finally, ASU+GSV Education Innovation Summit asks this year’s attendees to “imagine a new era in which all people have equal access to the future” by raising educational outcomes through scaled innovation. ASU+GSV runs 17-19 April in San Diego.