Tech meets innovation as SingularityU SA Summit aims to future-proof Africa

SingularityU SA has announced the final line-up for the much-anticipated third annual SingularityU SA Summit in October. 

The summit will showcase how technology can be used to solve global challenges. It aims to address the most pressing issues facing Africa by hosting more than 25 international and local thought leaders in the areas most in need of attention on the continent. 

The inspiring Tilly Lockey, whose arms were amputated after being diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis at a young age, will talk about robotics. Her presentation draws on her personal experience of using two customised, 3D-printed arms and her role as a leader in the development of technology in this field. 

Having worked with sensors, robotics and the gene-editing technology CRISPR, Neurescue CEO Dr Habib Frost will speak about the future of medicine and digital biology. He graduated as a medical doctor in Denmark at 23, the youngest in his class.

Alix Rübsaam, the Dutch researcher in the philosophy of technology, cultural analysis, and posthumanism, who is also a Singularity University faculty fellow, will talk about the implications of artificial intelligence in the software age. 

Dr David Bray, a SingularityU faculty member focusing on impact and disruption, will address smart food-supply chains and big data management as well as why leaders must embrace exponential change.

Bas Verkaik, who holds an MSc degree in sustainable energy technology from the Eindhoven University of Technology, was part of the STORM Eindhoven team that tried to pioneer an electric motorcycle on which to ride around the world in 80 days. The topic for his talk is “Around the World in 80 Days on a Revolutionary Electric Motorbike”.

Other prestigious international speakers include Singularity Nordic CEO Laila Pawlak;

Rachel Sibley, who helps Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurs worldwide ramp into exponential mindsets; Arturo Elizondo, the CEO of Clara Foods, a food-biotech company making real protein without using any animals; and Amin Toufani, the Singularity University chair for economics.

The SA speakers are equally insightful: 

• Murendeni Mafumo will address the use of nanotechnology and renewable energy to significantly improve access to drinking water. 
• Phathizwe Malinga will discuss how big data and the power of smartphones can help solve some of Africa’s grand challenges. 
• WeWork CEO Stafford Masie will address the future of humanity in his presentation. 
• Known as the “fanatical technologist”, Adam Pantanowitz will talk about how his personal journey has enhanced his life and motivated his research. 
• Valter Adão, a SingularityU SA faculty member focusing on the future of work, with an emphasis on the intersection of strategic and innovation thinking with emerging technologies and design, will discuss restructuring the future of work.

The new speakers added to the initial line-up are: Sivan Ya’ari, the driving force behind InnoAfrica; award-winning scientist and futurist Ramez Naam; Andres De Leon, the COO of Hyperloop Transportation; Kim Hulett, the founder and CEO of Next Bio Sciences and a SingularityU SA faculty member; Canadian robotics specialist Suzanne Gildert (PhD), a SingularityU Canada faculty member who co-founded Sanctuary AI, with a mission to build synthetic humans; and Kris Østergaard, from SingularityU Nordic, who will present an innovative perspective on transforming legacy organisations by embracing a new innovation framework and the exponential effects this can yield. 

“As part of our mission to future-proof Africa, we have assembled an outstanding speaker line-up to address Africa’s most pressing challenges and the technologies that can help address these. Innovation holds the key to the exponential solutions that can solve our education, energy, health, poverty, food and water challenges,” said Mic Mann, co-CEO of SingularityU SA.

The SingularityU SA Summit 2019 is hosted in collaboration with the Development Bank of Southern Africa, global partner Deloitte, and strategic partners MTN and Absa. Classic 1027 is the radio partner.

Book now for the third annual SingularityU SA Summit: 

When: October 16 and 17 2019

Where: Kyalami International Convention Centre, Gauteng

Cost: Early adopter tickets: R16,650 (sold out); standard tickets: R18,500; late mover tickets: R20,350. Tickets limited to 1,800 attendees.

What to bring: An exponential mindset and your networking skills.

>> Register here 

This article was paid for by SingularityU SA.