Unsolved is an unconference unlike anything you've ever seen before. We're gathering the most brilliant minds in impact tech under the same roof for an entire day to hash out how we can use technology to solve some of the biggest challenges of our time.
What is an unconference?
Great! It is really easy, and you don’t have to prepare anything beforehand unless you really want to. There will be some time during the unconference to create sessions, and there will be support to make your session awesome. With that said, below are some guidelines and things to consider when hosting a session at Norrsken Unsolved Unconference.
| Analytics | Biohacking | Big data |
| Machine Learning | Blockchain | Circular economy |
| Building MVPs | The future of tech | Open source |
| Clean transportation | Cloud services | Data driven innovation |
| Food Waste | Data privacy | Patient-centered care |
| Xenophobia | Artificial intelligence | IoT |
| Digital rights | Education | Encryption |
| Digital Security | Finance tech | GovTech |
| Sustainability | Inclusive economics | Microloans |
| Open Data | VC meetings | Voice tech |
The time to disrupt the status quo has passed. We need to create game-changers that deliver exponential impact to address the Sustainable development goals, and our choices in technology can either be our biggest asset or our greatest regret. So how do you choose from an overwhelmingly large technology toolbox? Let’s unpack five tech trends and explore their (actual) ability to solve the pain-points the world faces in order to become a sustainable, connected and intelligent society.
Mala is the Head of Ericsson ONE Sweden, scouting and scaling new growth bets for the company from Europe, Middle East and Africa. Mala has worked for industrial giants like Atlas Copco as well as in startups, and she uses the best of both worlds to help ideas scale into reality. She has represented the voice of industry players in the plenary panel of the European Multi-Stakeholder Forum on CSR and is experienced in integrating sustainability and human rights into multinational corporate strategies as well as startup boards. She has been named one of the top tech profiles in the industry by Veckans Affärer, participated in the selection of Sweden’s Most Innovative Leader (awarded by Chef Magazine) and is passionate about finding a meaningful intersection between sustainability, entrepreneurship and technology.
Entering the digital age machines have become powerful enough to replace humans at work. But only because we’ve organized humans as machine parts since the beginning of industrialization. Today’s leadership cannot be about being an operator of switches and levers on top of a great machine, but being a Mensch – a human capable of being human.
Erik Ringertz sees the company as a movement and himself as a gang leader. His employees are Renaissance artists. Erik Ringertz was appointed Boss of the Year 2014 and CEO of the Year 2016.
Erik Ringertz is engaged in "extreme delegation". A good leader makes clear decisions. Erik Ringertz says consistently yes - to everything. When others try to prevent conflicts by locating them as early as possible, Erik Ringertz's loves conflicts and notes, almost with a shrug, that when the heart is involved and everyone engages, it becomes very sensitive.
The tech industry has been a homogeneous industry for many years, but what does that mean for development? Diversity acts as a hyperdrive. It speeds up development, innovation, creativity and breakthrough. The future will be defined by artificial intelligence driven by data. The tech industry needs to invest today if we want to achieve innovation and creative breakthroughs tomorrow. Yet we are lagging behind? Therefore, it is incredibly important that you build working groups with great diversity and an inclusive environment. Because when everyone thinks the same, nobody thinks.
As the founder of Bambino Foundation, Heaven has worked extensively to provide sustainable change in regards to full healthcare system to the youth of Africa. Equipped with the tools of trade in Forex and Crypto market, she is an invaluable advocate of producing skilled African Professionals to develop tech-centric solutions that will lead the African tech market to new heights. Now she is doing the same for women and underrepresented groups in the nordics. Named one of the 33 Women to watch in tech by orten.io 2019.
People everywhere are demanding basic consumer protections. We want our food to be healthy to eat, our water to be clean to drink, and our air to be safe to breathe. This year people have started to demand more of the internet as well. However, there persists an expectation that on the internet people are responsible for protecting themselves. Tech companies have put the onus on people to read through their opaque terms and conditions tied to your data and privacy to use their services. This isn’t right, and it’s not where Mozilla stands. In this lightning talk, David Tenser will show that when it comes to online privacy, default settings matter and is a crucial first step if you want to join us in our mission to put people back in control of their connected lives.
David Tenser is Director of European Product Marketing at Mozilla. He is responsible for growing the popular open source web browser Firefox on both mobile and desktop in the EMEA markets. With a decade-long history with Mozilla, David built Mozilla’s community-powered support org from the ground up, institutionalized User Advocacy, and built and led several Agile teams responsible for Mozilla’s major websites, including Mozilla.org and MDN Web Docs. David has a background in software engineering. Besides holding a Master’s degree in computer science, he has also mastered the art of working effectively for an international company from his home base in Eskilstuna, Sweden, where he lives with his family.
In today’s age, we all know how data is part of everything we do. By just going through our day to day activities, we create information about who we are, and how we move through the world. This data can, and has, been used for amazing things. From small things like presenting you content that you’d enjoy, to supporting doctors with complicated diagnoses. However, as with all great things, they can be misused; willfully, or by ignorance and laziness. That’s why it’s important to be aware, to be active in how we see data. When data is seen as the holy grail, the pure source from which all information can be gained, we overlook the context of that data. Using our data, we must evaluate the inherent biases. Who may be missing from the data? What discrimination may be baked into your information? What underlying issues are we not seeing, and therefore perpetuating?These questions aren’t easy, but it’s our responsibility to tackle them as best we can, and make sure we avoid doing harm.
Originally studying engineering physics at Chalmers, my interests drifted mainly towards programming and in particular machine learning. Today, I’m working in the Analysis team at Recorded Future, where we attempt to give context and structure to the vast textual data available online. My focus lies on how to get and maintain quality data for our models and analysis.
How the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit behind Wikipedia, works with the collective of pseudonymous editors who edit and curate the wikis in their spare time. A very brief introduction of our processes for user involvement in software development.
Johan Jönsson is an expert on actively involving users in software development processes, working for the Wikimedia Foundation. He's edited Wikipedia since 2004.
Contributing to open source can be a rewarding way to learn, teach, and build experience in just about any skill you can imagine. It is a great way to connect to other people and to make an impact in the world. In this lightning talk Bas Peters will share some insights on the impact of open source and share best practices for people who are interested in contributing or want to start their own open source project.
Bas Peters is Solutions Engineer at GitHub, where he helps organisations to use GitHub to “learn, share and work together” to build software.
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Join us as we try to solve some of the biggest issues of our time. Hack for Impact is your chance to put your skills to the test. We invite you to join one of our impact tracks that will be lead by an expert. All the solutions will be open source and published on GitHub. At the end of the day, all the teams will pitch to the audience and the audience together with a jury will decide on the winners.
Norrsken House is an office space for entrepreneurs that run businesses with a vision to make the world a better place. We believe in technology as a great enabler and an important tool for solving problems more efficiently, and we strive to create an environment that supports and optimize for such entrepreneurs to do as much good as possible. On September 16th–19th 2019 Stockholm and Norrsken House will become the world’s center for startups that make the world a better place, giving them the attention they truly deserve!
Want to join us in our exciting and ambitious journey towards creating impact unicorns and making impact tech the next “rockstar sector” of the world?
Reach out to us at
unsolved@norrskenfoundation.org
We are a non-religious, non-partisan, non-profit Foundation with a strong belief in Effective Altruism. We support and invest in both for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations, whichever we believe is most likely to have a positive impact on society. Although we are based in Stockholm, Sweden, we see ourselves as world citizens.
