Stay on the RISE! Day 2 Must-See Events & Day 1 Recap

The commencement of RISE Conference, the largest tech conference in Asia, did not disappoint! RISE Day 1 was vibrant with intellectual discussions, light-hearted mingling and actively hunting but also patiently queuing for the hot-pick talks. 

Wouldn't it be amazing to know exactly where you want to go next so you could get the best seat in the house while getting inspired by your idol or noting key points from big shots from global giants? WHub has prepared just that for you! Read on to find out the must-see events in chronological order to help you nail your organization!

Watch to know more about these influential leaders? WHub has conducted more than 30 interviews with some of the biggest names at the conference, stay tuned to watch interviews with:

- David Hanson, the Founder of Hanson Robotics, which develops the world's most human-like robots including Sophia, the first robot citizen
-  Cameron Adams, Co-Founder & CEO of Canva, the unicorn startup which makes graphic design simple for everybody
-  Mark Birch, Enterprise Developer Strategist at Stack Overflow, the world's largest developer survey
-  Mike Massimino, the NASA astronaut that sent the first tweet from space and spend more than 550 hours in space

As well as the WINNER of Runway to RISE:
- Bernard Tan, CEO & Founder of ReCactus, the hottest new social app for reaction videos

And the audience favorite at the RISE Pitch Competition:
- Sunder Jagannathan, CEO & Founder of RevSmart, the solution for riders to drive safely & effectively, and a member of Brinc's acceleration program

Want to know more about the startups in Hong Kong, how to give a good pitch, as well as where to eat, sight-see and have a good time here? Download the special HK VIBES MAGAZINE by WHub!

Keep checking the WHub Blog to see key takeaways of the day, and not to miss events for the next day. Also, look through the WHub RISE 2018 Calendar to lock in some amazing Night Summit Events.

Must-see Events - RISE Day 2, July 11 (Wed)

11.05 - 11.20 - AutoTech/TalkRobot - Four waves of AI investment 
Where is AI headed? Where is it lagging? How does AI influence investors’ decisions? Don’t miss Anita Huang’s in-depth view of AI in China (Sinovation Ventures). 

12.30 - 12.45 - AutoTech/TalkRobot - Building hardware for blockchain 
Phil Chen, head of HTC Vive, presents Exodus, a new blockchain powered phone. Come to this 15 min talk to discover how Exodus will impact the market. 

12.30 - 12.50 - Central Stage - From Tinder to VC The Story of Sean Rad
Founder of dating app Tinder will be telling his story of how he came to create one of the world’s most popular consumer tech companies and totally reversed the way people meet. 

13.45 - 14.15 - MoneyConf - The surge of cryptocurrencies 
As cryptocurrencies develop and with new ones emerging each day, what exactly is their potential and how will it impact the industry? Joseph Lubin, Michael Novogratz, Kris Marszalek, Julian Hosp and Jacky Wong will be discussing the boom or bust of crypto tomorrow! 

16.20 - 16.45 - Centre Stage - AI and the world 
Brad Smith, Microsoft President will be presenting the evolution of technology and its impact on business and the world. 

Key Takeaways from RISE Day 1 - July 10 (Tues)

1. Can Politics lead on Innovation?
Moderator: Bernie Lo, Anchor at CNBC | Speaker: Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

According to Lam, compromises should be made in politics, but never in technology, where one should never settle for mediocracy. She believes technology is worth heavy investments and aims to create an environment that is friendly to young people to develop their talents. She also tries to attract technological talents to Hong Kong with the Technology Talent Admission Scheme in May which provides a fast-track arrangement for overseas talents.
She believes that if Hong Kong wants to stay competitive, it has to continuously review rules and adapt to new changes that have risen. With the loss of the Alibaba listing in Hong Kong in 2014 to the New York Stock Exchange due to the regimented listing rules that did not permit weighed voting rights, Hong Kong has updated the listing Rules in April to prevent compromising investments. As Hong Kong's biggest hindrance of attracting overseas talent is the expensive real estate prices and the land and space shortage, Lam has intended several measures including re-landscaping Victoria Harbour, re-vamping Hong Kong's industrial buildings as well as to create more ties with the Greater Bay Area, which offer more land, and has tremendous potential for economic growth. 

2. In Conversation with Grab
Moderator: Kara Swisher, Co-Founder of Recode | Speaker: Tan Hooi Ling, Co-Founder of Grab
Grab is launching their new open strategy platform today with a completely new user experience because the function of the app has changed. With the launch of their new "Super App", they are expanding from their previous services such as food, transportation and logistics to doing grocery services as well. Their aim is to evolve from Southeast Asia's transportation app, to Southeast Asia's every day super app.

Regarding the aquisition of Uber's Southeast Asian deals, Tan explains that although Uber has a good reach of other parts of the world, there are no alternative players that have built the connections Grab maintains right now. According to Tan, they do not see the move as an aquisition, but rather a cooperation. They do not view other hailing apps as competitors, rather, they are intimidated by "the hand" on the side the road, which motivates them to work harder to angle themselves from the customers' perspective and thus adjust their marketing strategies and solutions.

Regarding Toyota's recent investment of 1 billion, Grab says they want to shape the ene to end flow of mobility solution, entailing that they would like to understand hardware as well as developing services.

3. David Hanson & Sophia the Robot
Speakers: David Hanson, Founder of Hanson Robotics, Ben Goertzel, Chief Scientist at Hanson Robotics & Sophia the Robot, the social humanoid robot & the first robot to get citizenship

Hanson Robotics wants to make AI that is good, that has our best interest in mind, and which can imagine a better future of humans. Hanson believes that if we develop human level AI, that would be the most profound development. AI is already doing so much today, AI has so much potential for the future. They hope to build machines that are not only super intelligent, but also "super wise", which is why they have named their robot "Sophia", ancient Greek for "wisedom".

At the RISE Conference today, Sophia showed off her multi-intelligence, including verbal intelligence, emotional intelligence, and musical intelligence.

Want to know more about Sophia and HK-based Hanson Robotics? Stay tuned for WHub's video interview!

Remember to check for tomorrow's must-see events so you don't get a serious case of #FOMO!