Thought leaders and innovators from across the world will present a forward thinking approach to unlocking the potential that Africa holds. Topics that will be addressed are designed to bring the most pressing issues facing the continent to the fore, including education, energy, poverty, prosperity and water. This summit intends to equip the leaders of today and tomorrow with the thinking and knowledge needed, to use technology to help pioneer a better future for all Africans.

Attention is also being paid to bringing a youth component into this visionary event, details of which will be announced at a later stage.

The third annual SingularityU South Africa Summit will focus on creating a collaborative and more economically-inclusive future, whereby partnerships and deals can be conceptualised and developed across the continent. Networking opportunities will allow attendees to connect with SingularityU faculty members and alumni. Exhibitors will present breakthrough ideas and investment opportunities that will run alongside the summit.

The annual initiative is driven by Singularity University’s mission to educate, inspire and empower leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges. Now in its second year, the summit showcased 33 African and world-renowned speakers, and attracted over 1 900 African industry leaders, c-suite executives as well as public sector representatives. Speakers and delegates engaged on exponential technologies that will help the African continent leapfrog into the future.

“There is a huge potential for economic and technological growth in Africa. Many African countries still face challenges related to infrastructure, security and education, among others. Exponential technology is an opportunity for Africa to forge ahead towards sustainable development across all sectors and industries,” says Mic Mann, Founder of Mann Made and SingularityU South Africa Summit co-CEO.

Themes unpacked at the summit included the future of work and the professional, as well as what to expect of the gig economy. While many fear the rise of automation and mechanisation, as well as its impact on employment, Valter Adão, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer at Deloitte, shared research that “for every job lost, 1.74 new jobs are created”.

Other talking points included education and the future of learning; banking in a cashless future; additive manufacturing in space; and what it takes to decode democracy. Speakers included: Fred Swaniker, who aims to groom three million leaders for Africa by 2035; author of Stealing Fire Jamie Wheal; Dr Tiffany Vora, who talked about how to programme Africa’s future using digital biology; as well as Phathizwe Malinga, who shared his insights on IoT and information abundance. This year’s summit also included a second track, presented during the coffee and lunch breaks, that allowed delegates to delve deeper into the most topics.

The summit co-organisers also announced that SingularityU South Africa is the first Singularity University country partner on the African continent. It now offers online and offline programmes for individuals and corporate members, including a newly appointed, South African-based faculty: www.singularityusouthafrica.org.

Another highlight was witnessing Richard Browning, Founder and Chief Test Pilot of Gravity Industries, showcase human flight in his Jet Suit flight. Its five gas turbine jet engines generate 147kg of thrust that allows for vertical lift and directional propulsion at speeds of up to 70km/h, that can cover a distance of 1.4km for up to eight minutes.

The winner of SU Ventures 2018, Benji Coetzee of Empty Trips, won the opportunity to go to SingularityU in Silicon Valley to take part in the SU sprint programme. She will also have the opportunity to get funding for her start-up.

Fifty super early bird tickets to the third SingularityU South Africa Summit, to be held on 16-17 October 2019, were already sold within an hour of announcement. The summit trended across social media under the theme “#futureproofAfrica and inspired South Africans to take action and make impact to create abundance for all. Through technology advances and the proper adoption thereof, a beyond brighter future is possible for the entire African continent.

We are fortunate to have formed part of the event, our thanks go to the SingularityU Team.

“Exponential technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and immersive computing are transforming the way in which we work and network across all industries,” said Mic Mann, Founder of Mann Media and co-organiser of SingularityU South Africa Summit 2018. “It’s changing how we conduct business as well as the workspace. Soon there will be no need to fly across the globe for a face-to-face meeting – unless you really want to. Digital avatars, personalised exoskeletons, beam robots, holograms, and similar technologies will allow for more interactive and human-like business meetings.”

VR is making it possible for business professionals to be transported to Hong Kong, San Francisco and London all in a day’s work. VR enhances networking experiences and makes this possible in a manner that is much more engaging than traditional e-conferencing, such as Google Hangouts and Skype, and at a cost that is exponentially less than what it would be in the real world. Today, with VR-enabled technologies and laser-accurate scaled floorplans, SingularityU South Africa was able to bring this event to life in a way that few other events and conferences have done before. Media entered the VR booth that was set up and donned virtual reality headsets to ask questions in the digital space.

“I’m delighted to be virtually joining today’s press conference in Johannesburg on behalf of SingularityU South Africa,” said Rob Nail, CEO and Associate Founder of Singularity University. “There is no better demonstration of SU’s mission than to use exponential thinking and technologies, such as AR and VR, to discuss in real-time and ‘in-person’ how we can #futureproofAfrica and bring opportunity to everyone. It is only when we engage a global community focused on solving humanity’s greatest challenges with these and other accelerating technologies that we can have the greatest positive impact on our future.”

The conference line-up included local and international Singularity University speakers, who focused on reimagining exponential leadership and disruptive thinking. “The press conference provided African futurists insights into how Silicon Valley conducts business meetings and also allowed them to interact with global innovators about how to resolve various challenges facing the continent,” said Mann.

The impressive line-up of speakers included SingularityU global leadership and SingularityU South Africa 2018 partners:

• Rob Nail – Singularity University CEO
• Oren Berkovich – co-founder and CEO of SingularityU Canada
• Kris Østergaard – co-founder and Chief Learning and Innovation Officer of SingularityU Nordi
• Ricardo Marvão – co-founder and managing director of SingularityU Portugal
• Belinda Carreira – Standard Bank Executive Head Interactive Marketing
• Valter Adão – Deloitte, Head of Innovation
• Simon Carpenter – SAP Chief Technology Officer
• Herman Singh – MTN Executive Innovation Strategy
• David Rozzio – HP Managing Director
• Benjamin Marais – Liberty Chief Technology Officer

Join us, these partners as well as other speakers at the 2018 SingularityU South Africa Summit on 15 and 16 October where African and global innovators will enable delegates and their organisations to keep pace with advances in science and exponential technologies. To learn more about the SingularityU South Africa Summit and view the full programme, visit: https://singularityusouthafricasummit.org/. Should be quite a cool futuristic experience, we hope to see you there!