The city of Port Harcourt played host to the second edition of the Borderless 2.0 Conference today, November 4th. Tagged: Becoming Solutions, the Borderless conference showcased some of the industry’s best minds and innovative ideas, displaying creativity in Port Harcourt.
Discussions ranged from the AI revolution to Web 3 technology. The event also featured industry leaders, founders, and tech enthusiasts within and outside Port Harcourt.
AI Adoption and Localization
With artificial intelligence creating excitement and much debate about its potential to revolutionize entire industries, a segment of the event discussed the perceived impact of AI in African industries.
The speakers highlighted that although AI is expanding quickly and causing a general disruption in industry procedures, it is still impossible to replace humans with AI. According to him, machines are only faster than humans and not smarter.
Another speaker noted that while there is still no general consensus on the boundaries of artificial intelligence, it is pertinent that Nigeria and Africa at large localize it. By localizing AI, Nigeria must learn to store and use data for intelligence purposes.
Growing Tech Hubs
Borderless 2.0 highlighted the growth and benefits of tech hubs in Rivers State. Olisa Macauley, the Director of the Rivers State University Innovation Hub; Richard Pepple, founder of Technovil Innovation Hub; Olusegun of Renaissance Innovation Labs; and Annabel from the Borderless Tech Hub discussed the significance of connecting in the ecosystem.
Olusegun noted that the saturation of tech talents in Rivers State at the entry level has prompted Renaissance Labs to go beyond just honing tech skills in Rivers State. According to him, the lab wants to ensure that individuals become effective in the tech space.
Skyline, speaking on the need to collaborate within the tech ecosystem, noted that no one could develop great ideas in isolation.
The Web 3
The Borderless conference also discussed the disruptive potential of Web 3. In a session tagged Demystifying Web 3, Glory Emmanuel, a blockchain developer at Bintmax, highlighted monetization and data as key differences between Web 2 and Web 3.
Emmanuel further stated that growing internet innovation is the most potent reason to engage in Web 3 today.
PR and Marketing
The Borderless event also centered on the need for business and self-marketing by startup founders. The anchor, Onyeka Ekwemozor stressed that founders must have a sense of marketing, not just for their businesses but also for themselves. According to her, this enables people to understand the startup’s offerings.
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