A data-fueled start to fall season
This fall has been the busiest time for our incubator so far. Because not only have startups from our first cohort showcased their immense development on many occasions, but we also welcomed our second cohort to start their foundation journey with us. And now, it’s time to catch up!
During this time, we were busy at work once again while getting together, connecting, and networking in the beautiful, not-yet-grey city of Berlin. And yet, for us data enthusiasts, this fall’s highlight has been Europe’s most extensive data science and AI conference, the Data Natives. This year, data professionals from all over the world came together in Berlin for three days to participate in the event where innovative thinkers in data and technology shared their learnings and inspirational stories.
The conference was even more significant for the Applied Data Incubator startups from the first cohort. They had the chance to pitch the innovative ideas they had been working on for many months with investors, coaches and mentors, and other data professionals. Yes, our first cohort’s Demo Day happened on Data Natives’ Startup Stage! And that’s not all — some of the teams who battled to join our incubator are now part of our program!
Now, before we jump up and tell you about this special day, let’s have a look at some of the highlighted topics at the conference.
What does it take to trust AI?
We are adopting Artificial Intelligence fastly into our lives. However, “to adopt new tech toys, we need to make sure we can trust them first,” as Kenza Ait Si Abbou stated in her keynote speech on the first day of the conference. And like any progress, it takes time: “Decision making supported by machine learning can have unintended effects, such as discrimination. And since AI learns discrimination from us, we need to change ourselves first.” In this case, what does it take to trust the decisions made by artificial intelligence?
According to the keynote speaker, there are five criteria to trust a decision made by AI: Explainability, Fairness, Robustness, Transparency, and Privacy. But in the end, earning trust in AI is a socio-technological challenge that will not be resolved quickly.
Digital Identity: Can we regain control over our privacy?
We are moving from physical to digital in any possible direction. Our credentials are no longer solely physical identity cards issued by trusted entities linked to our identifiers (face, signature, fingerprint). Because in the digital world, digital identity is becoming more and more necessary every day — for example, we recently went through a period where our proof of vaccination became vital to pursue our daily lives.
While this raises personal data protection concerns as we approach Web3, Ingo Rübe, Founder of KILT Protocol, brought their solution to the Main Stage. You can visit their website if you missed the conference and want to learn more about their innovative solution.
Applied Data Incubator: Data-driven startups pitched for the first time!
After much networking and learning about new perspectives toward a data-driven future, our startups took the Startup Stage for their Demo Day presentations. This huge event has been only a milestone for them ever since because as their time approaches to become our first alumni, they are familiar with the spotlight already.
So without further ado, let’s jump right ahead to their Demo Day recap and hear about their side of the story👇
Cheers to the Berlin startup ecosystem and data community (aka. Data Natives) for making this possible! You can visit our YouTube channel if you want to watch ClearCO2, Panos.AI, and Quantpaper’s Demo Day pitches. If you are curious about their next steps, stay tuned because it is only the beginning of their journey.
