Diwala at Oslo Innovation Week
There’s no rest for the weary and neither for us at Diwala. We took part in the 14th annual Oslo Innovation week (OIW) that was held between Sept. 24th-28th, where Diwala was one of many startups and business entities present. Our CEO, Thea Sommerseth Myhren and CTO, Snorre Lothar von Gohren Edwin, were among the 150 speakers who gave inspiring presentations. It was amazing to see 500 leaders, founders, investors and journalists flock to Norway’s capital to participate and get insights on the state of global affairs, in which direction world development is currently moving and how UN Sustainability Goals map out both the biggest opportunities and challenges of our time.
The Diwala team attended the official opening that was held at Oslo Rådhuset in central Oslo, where Thea participated in a panel discussion curated by Mike Butcher (TechCrunch). There she was joined by Tricia Martinez (Wala) and Dr. Zeynep Gurgur (Imperial College London), where the main topics touched on developments in third world countries, the refugee crisis, identity and ownership of personal data and education systems. It was a very interesting discussion and so empowering to see such influential and accomplished women in the blockchain space.
The following day, we attended the Oslo Blockchain Summit at Salt, where the event showcased several interesting companies utilizing blockchain and how it can be used to develop solutions in a sustainable way. We also managed to get time to visit the Pangea Summit at FOLK, where we had very interesting discussions on innovation and development in African markets.
On Wednesday, the team attended the AGORA “Building Sh*t That Matters” seminar that was held at Mesh moderated by Samatha Murphy Kelly, Editor of CNN Tech. Its aim was to provide a voice for small business entities and focused on delivering impact, change, profit and purpose. Thea shared with the crowd what we do at Diwala, the challenges that have been encountered during our journey up until now and the need to “surround yourself with core mentors” to avoid being confused and overwhelmed.
Later that evening we headed to the Finpact summit at MESH, which focused on financial technologies (fintech) in today’s markets and where Snorre was a speaker. Being the first summit on this topic, it focused on the opportunities between fintech and global impact, which can only be properly utilized through cooperation between start-ups, governments and the private sector. Presenting from a “tech perspective”, Snorre spoke on how fintech could enable financial inclusion for individuals in difficult situations, which is a demographic that we’re working with at Diwala.
In addition to our own contributions to OIW, we managed to take a minute to explore some of the other seminars. On Wednesday, several of us attended “Couch Talks”, which was hosted by the Human Aspect. This organization endeavors to create the world’s first life-experience library that would allow individuals to learn from the experiences of others. The panel was composed of Dr. Sylvija Seres, Johan Brand, Tharald Nustad, Dilek Ayhan and Jimmy Westerheim. It was both an inspiring and moving discussion that touched on the personal challenges that they encountered as entrepreneurs and how they overcame them. Their practical tips and life lessons showed us how we can grow as entrepreneurs and people.
Building on the Norwegian tradition of Dugnad (collective or communal work), OIW is a collaboration between “leading international and local startups, corporates, and other key industry players that are truly dedicated to create viable business solutions to the UN ́s Sustainable Development Goals”.
Oslo Innovation Week closed on the same premise that it opened with; sustainability. Throughout the whole week, organizations, techies and governments met to speak on how humanity can sustain itself, but this wasn’t restricted to simply physical or logistical sustainability, but emotional as well. The lesson learned from this week was that sustainability can only be achieved through a combined effort and only though this cooperation can we tackle the problems that plague us.
So, what is Oslo Innovation Week? It’s a gathering of the brightest, most resourceful and most motivated, who are dedicated to the idea of “building sh*t that matters”.
