Planet Tech, philanthropy disrupted, AI threatening the world, and the dark side of Social Media – these were all areas of interest for me on Day 1 of Web Summit.

On the Planet Tech stage, there were some great speakers talking about how to solve major environmental problems and the concerns around global warming. Notable speakers were:

Cedrik Neike (Siemens) talked about the importance of an “all electric planet” whereby fossil fuels are well and truly a thing of the past. An all-electric planet is one on which all forms of transport are powered by electricity that is harvested by way of renewable systems such as, among others, wind, solar, hydro and in-built converter systems (i.e. capturing the energy when braking).

Alexandra Cousteau – Grand-daughter of the renown Jacques-Yves Cousteau and daughter of Philipe Cousteau – spoke about her mission as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and film-maker to raise awareness and create protective measures for saving our oceans from severe contamination.

Alpha stage startups: Social and Philanthropy zone – two favourites on the day.

Yaggle – is a dating app that starts with a “Golden Question” rather than pictures. Once users have set up their match criteria they can pose their Golden Question and receive answers from potential matches. The aim is to find attraction through conversation rather than base decisions on the more superficial features of one’s being, namely their looks. Once users are comfortable enough with one another they can request the “Big Reveal” at which point their full profiles are revealed including photos and other personal details. Get Yaggling, people!

Famel – have revived an old Portuguese classic motorcycle design and engineered it fully electric. Famel is entering what is becoming one of the fastest growing automobile sectors (electric motorbikes) with the global market estimated to be worth almost €20 billion by 2022. Famel had a very cool prototype on display and doing what Tesla has done to electric cars – not only making them cool but making them faaaaast! Sales are expected to start in 2018.

Sunset summit

What happens at the end of the day? If you thought everyone just goes home to bed then think again; the party starts and 4 pm down by the waterfront where there’s a live stage with local musicians and artists performing for the tired techies. Indoors there are all sorts of fancy booths with Google’s latest Android apps and interactive games. Many boutique beverage companies are on show as well, all providing free samples of their delicious beers, wine and liqueurs. And for the hungry geeks, there are plenty of food trucks outside selling local cuisine and fusion foods with many beers taps pouring plenty of Super Bock.

Night summit

If you thought the music stopped once the sun has set then think again; the party carries on into the city centre. We hit TimeOut market for dinner where many of Lisbon’s most famous restaurants have a small kitchen serving up their speciality dishes. From here we ventured into the old part of town where every bar was packed full of people overflowing out on the street. With people everywhere the air was full of excitement and conversation about tech, tech, and more tech – you get the picture so I won’t go into detail. But Lisbon is most definitely geeking out to max this week – and it’s fun!! 🙂