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ONE of the world’s leading tech experts will be touching down in Bahrain this week to deliver a keynote speech and share his thoughts and predictions on the global FinTech sector.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will be the star attraction of the kingdom’s ‘Fintastic Week’, which will be held from Sunday until February 29, and the tech icon will deliver his address to more than 1,000 delegates from the worlds of business, government and academia.
Fintastic Week will consist of a series of conferences and seminars for experts from the global financial and technology communities. Events will also include best practice workshops for start-ups and fireside conversations with respected FinTech pioneers and leaders.
The highlight of the week will see the eighth GCC Financial Forum held on Tuesday and February 27. Wozniak will deliver his speech next Tuesday morning.
Wozniak is one of the heavyweights of the global tech industry. He founded Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976 and was instrumental in the launch of the company’s first personal computers. He is also a leading and vocal expert on AI, blockchain and the financial technology industry at large.
Wozniak is particularly active in advocating the benefits of crypto-currencies, an area that several Bahraini start-ups are exploring.
He stepped away from Apple in 1985 and sold most of his stock. Although one of the most respected pioneers of the technology industry, he remains sceptical about some aspects of his future, in particular artificial intelligence and driverless car technologies.
Last year, in an interview with www.desmoinesregister.com, he said: “It’s going to take self-driving cars a long time before we trust them. And, I don’t think they’ll ever really drive themselves as long as they stick to human-made roads.
“I’ve frequently studied the differences between computers and human brains and I don’t believe machines are anywhere close to truly replicating the complexities of the brain.
“The thing is we don’t know how the brain is wired. I don’t believe we’re really going to get there. We’re not on the right track at all.”
Wozniak said there are still many things a human brain can do that a computer can’t.
“I like the ‘A,’ but I don’t lie the ‘I’ in AI. I’d almost call it alien influenza.”
Other notable speakers at the Bahrain event include Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy, and Louise Beaumont, co-chair of the Open Banking & Payments Working group, at Tech UK.
Khalid Al Rumaihi, chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, a co-host of Fintastic Week, said: “The FinTech space in the Middle East is growing and its opportunities and potential are being recognised by the global FinTech community. In Bahrain, we are building on our heritage of excellence in financial services by developing innovative new products and services that will transform how consumers and businesses right across the region approach this sector, and events such as Fintastic Week bring these fresh and new ideas to the table.
“As we look to diversify our sources of growth, FinTech will play an increasingly important role in creating coordinated, agile and action-orientated economies across the region. That is why Fintastic Week is so important. It will bring together like-minded individuals and companies who want to take advantage of this opportunity and work together to achieve a more financially inclusive and sustainable future.”
