Back to the Future

When four years ago, holding hands with Microsoft, we organized the first Building The Future, we were far from imagining the impact, relevance, and breadth of digital transformation for the relatively near future.

If in January 2019, when we made this first edition, it was possible to go into the future, in January 2021, in the third edition, we believed that we had entered the most imaginative science fiction film, in which the screenwriter would be challenging the limits of the possible.

The technological leap is extraordinary, and all the discussions that we started in 2019 and that continued in the 2020 edition were catalyzed from March 2020 with the arrival of the pandemic. In 2021, the first all-digital edition of Building the Future, amid strong uncertainty and on top of the worst period of the pandemic, confirmed the vital relevance of the theme, in presentations and discussions among more than 20.000 participants over three days.

But a year later what topics are on the agenda?

The themes about technologies that promote digital transformation are unavoidable: AI, AUTOMATION, DATA, CYBERSECURITY, PRIVACY, CLOUD COMPUTING, BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCIES, AR & VR, 5G, among others, but paradoxically the themes beyond technology nowadays are the ones that seem especially critical to us.

Different organizations in the market and also the members of our Advisory Board have repeatedly referred to the challenges on the human side of digital transformation: the ability of the organization to be flexible, to be able to work with a project orientation, quickly and collaboratively, overcoming organizational silos, with effective communication that builds knowledge, adapting to new ways of working, including the necessary change in leadership for this new context, all wrapped in the need to build or rebuild an organizational culture that is effectively promoting all this transformation.

Yet another theme, linked to this human dimension, has also stood out in our dialogues with the market: the well-being of employees. On one hand, the pressure stemming from the remote work situation, with the new challenges arising there. On the other hand, the awareness that this factor may be crucial in attracting and retaining talent in the future.

Finally, a third aspect linked to the human side, in the need demonstrated by large organizations to requalify an important part of their workforce, thus evidencing the strategic importance of implementing re-skilling programs in the organizational context.

The 6 themed blocks of the upcoming Building The Future in January 2022 were built to integrate these and other themes related to digital transformation.

In the first, inspired by technology, we challenge the limits of the possible, looking beyond the imagination, redesigning the contours of visible boundaries - BEYOND.

In the second block, we rest our feet on the ground and focus on the foreseeable future, that of the transformation that we already know we will have to do by looking and discussing the scenarios and strategies that are unavoidable - FUTURE.

On the second day, we have the third block about PEOPLE, addressing part of the topics mentioned above, and PLANET bringing sustainability, another inescapable vector of today.

The third and final day is dedicated to learning both from a teaching perspective – EDUCATION and from a lifelong learning perspective – SKILLING.

We believe that these 6 blocks will bring a lot of inspiration, knowledge, sharing, and networking over 3 days of Future Building.

But these are 6 blocks are just the tip of the iceberg.

Enjoy the Super Early Bird tickets in buildingthefuture.pt and stay tuned with all the news, including the content of the multiple stages and channels with more technical themes, but also with other approaches ranging from entrepreneurship and innovation to productivity tools, from the perspective of different industries. Get to know the speakers, activities, and panels. Follow the blog and give us your opinion.

Let's build the future, together!