The Impact of Tech on Jobs
The 4th edition of the Porto Tech Hub Conference was filled with public and innovative ideas
Throughout May 18th, the Âlfandega Congress Center received the fourth edition of Porto Tech Hub Conference. Towards almost 800 people, 18 national and international speakers focused on “the jobs of the future and technologies”, the common theme to all the talks of the event.
How far are we from the future? Although a response may seem very hypothetical, no one should be as close to know it as those who daily devote themselves to the matter. PTH’18 audience knew it and received, listened to and discussed the ideas presented in two different stages (Techs and Trends) in the 17 talks of the conference.
Throughout the day, we realized that there is life beyond the lines of code, something exemplified in a practical way through examples such as the fact that urban traffic can benefit from cross-information, theme explored by John Fitzgerald, director of the University of Newcastle. Melinda Seckington, technical director at Future Learn and blogger (missgeeky.com) revealed the importance of “heroic” values for programmers, and Microsoft’s Francisco Caldas originally explored the “digital future” from a business perspective.
If there is something that this conference has taught us, it is that there are several ways to be explored, at this moment, as far as technological evolution is concerned. However, if the paths seem to follow different directions, there was something that seemed to cross all paths: the need to implement a “multidisciplinary” work system, which is, at the same time, one of the most important challenges to overcome.
“Know your people” was the motto given by Torben Schwellnus and Hélder Martins, from XING and Kununu, respectively. Companies are beginning to notice that the most important thing is to invest “in getting to know people and not spending resources on superfluous events.” And what people, or workers, in this case, most value is serious leadership, good working conditions and a chance of professional progression.
On May 18th, the future ceased to seem so uncertain. One thing that is certain, however, is the return of the Porto Tech Hub Conference to a fifth edition in 2019.
