SingularityU South Africa brings together over 20 global thought leaders in technology, finance, and investment
Benjamin Rosman
Catherine Wood
Geci Karuri Sebina
Manu Sharma
Phathizwe Malinga
Tanya Knowles
SingularityU South Africa has announced that more speakers have been added to the programme for the inaugural Exponential Finance Summit, which will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 29 and 30 May 2019. The new speakers include Shane Glynn, Hylton Kallner, Phathizwe Malinga, Benjamin Rosman and Magda Wierzycka.
Shane Glynn is the co-founder and General Counsel of MobileCoin, a company that provides private, mobile and digital cash payment systems. Prior to MobileCoin he worked as a Senior Product Counsel on a variety of projects at Google, including the Pixel phone, Google Fiber and open access national WiFi. Glynn’s talk will address privacy in the world of exponential data. Now that we are all connected, and headed towards a cashless society, Glynn will discuss what are the implications are for business and society at large, and why this is so important for freedom in the future. We are seeing a tremendous rise of cashless and mobile payments from China. The question that needs to be asked is whether the rest of the world will embrace or compete with China.
With a BEconSC in Actuarial Science, Hylton Kallner, is currently the Chief Executive Officer for Discovery Life, and oversees the group’s Marketing and Distribution. Additionally, he also plays a key role in the executive committees of Discovery Limited, Discovery Health, Discovery Life, Discovery Invest, Discovery Insure and Discovery Vitality. Also a fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa, Kallner will address the convergence between banking and insurance.
In her role as chief executive officer at Sygnia Limited, Magda Wierzycka is known for her strong anti-corruption corporate activism in South Africa. She is in high demand as a speaker on the topic of ethical corporate leadership, both domestically and internationally. She also sits on the advisory board of the Centre for African Studies at Harvard University, USA. In her talk at the Exponential Finance Summit, Wierzycka will discuss the road ahead in Asset Management.
Phathizwe Malinga, who recently returned from Silicon Valley, is part of the Singularity University South Africa faculty with a focus on Internet of Things and Big Data. As the Managing Director of SqwidNet, Malinga is responsible for building an Internet of Things (IOT) connectivity business in South Africa in partnership with International IOT giant SIGFOX. He In addition to his CEO role, he oversees the solutions division for SqwidNet, a fully-owned subsidiary of Dark Fibre Africa. In his talk, he will share his expertise related to the Internet of Things within the finance sector.
As a member of the South African Singularity University faculty, Benjamin Rosman specialises in machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. He is a principal researcher in the Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. Rosman is also a senior lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he runs the Robotics, Autonomous Intelligence and Learning Laboratory. His talk at the Exponential Finance Summit will tackle artificial intelligence and re-enforcement learning.
These speakers add to the already prestigious slate of presentations boasting world renowned cybersecurity expert Jaya Baloo, exonomics and exponential business models expert Amin Toufani, blockchain specialist Tanya Knowles, future of cities expert Geci Karuri-Sebina (PHD), Catherine Wood, founder of ARK invest, and data science specialist Manu Sharma. Other headline speakers include Ramez Naam, Kyle Nel, David Roberts, Kirsty Roth, Ashley Anthony, Mic Mann, Shayne Mann, Nathana Sharma, and Paul Pagnatto – one of the top 35 global wealth advisors globally.
This groundbreaking event is the next iteration in SingularityU’s journey to #futureproofAfrica, by creating a global community of changemakers, who are able to implement solutions to solve the world’s Global Grand Challenges by using exponential technologies.
“As part of our journey in future-proofing Africa, we are thrilled to have added more incredible speakers to the line up for our Exponential Finance Summit. We feel a great sense of pride to be bringing these world class experts and thinking to our South African shores,” said Shayne Mann, co-CEO of SingularityU South Africa.
“Through the Exponential Finance Summit, we hope to facilitate meaningful networking connections on a global scale, encourage ideas that can change the financial world, stimulate the South African economy, and kickstart a strong venture capital ecosystem. Impact is the currency of the future and these new speakers promise to add exactly that,” said Mic Mann, co-CEO of SingularityU South Africa.
The Exponential Finance Summit is an industry-specific event hosted in collaboration with The Development Bank of Southern Africa, global partners Deloitte, and Discovery, and strategic partner MTN. The Summit will showcase how exponential technologies are simultaneously shaping and disrupting the financial industry. It aims to empower attendees with the latest insights on how to boost GDP growth, create employment, and attract foreign direct investment—a key enabler of economic growth that is especially important for emerging market economies.
“Exponential Finance will be a transformative experience for attendees. SingularityU South Africa convenes the world’s experts to introduce attendees to exponential technologies and equip them with the mindset and leadership needed to take the finance industry into the future,” said Rob Nail, CEO and associate founder of Singularity University. “We expect that these two days will incite and inspire action that will lead to breakthroughs in Africa’s economy.”
Similar to the annual SingularityU South Africa Summit, Exponential Finance will focus on creating a collaborative and more economically-inclusive future, whereby partnerships and deals can be conceptualised and developed across the continent. Networking opportunities will allow attendees to connect with SingularityU alumni. Exhibitors will present breakthrough ideas and investment opportunities that will run alongside the summit.
Book your tickets now for the inaugural Exponential Finance Summit South Africa
When: 29 – 30 May 2019
Where: Cape Town International Convention Centre, 1 Lower Long Street, Cape Town
Cost: Standard tickets: R18 500, Late mover tickets: R20 350. Tickets limited to 1,000 attendees.
What to bring: An exponential mindset and your networking skills
SingularityU South Africa is the sixth country partner of Singularity University and the first in Africa. It is hosted in collaboration with our country partner The Development Bank of Southern Africa, global partner Deloitte, and strategic partner MTN. Our massive transformative purpose is to build an empowered network of globally connected changemakers across Africa, who are able to innovate and implement solutions that will solve some of the continent’s greatest challenges. We want to leapfrog Africa into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We can do so by empowering its people to create abundant, sustainable, and holistic ways of living and working. In this way, we can #futureproofAfrica. We apply SU’s approach of applying exponential technology and thinking to solve South Africa’s and the continent’s greatest challenges around unemployment, education, infrastructure, energy, and medicine, among others. As a catalyst for change, SingularityU South Africa runs custom education, innovation, and impact programmes that help others leverage rapidly accelerating technologies – including artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, blockchain, and digital biology – in innovative ways to unlock solutions that can positively impact millions of lives.
About SUSA Exponential Finance Summit
South Africa’s inaugural two-day Exponential Finance Summit, which is organised by SingularityU South Africa, will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 29 – 30 May 2019. It is an industry-specific event that is hosted in collaboration with The Development Bank of Southern Africa, Deloitte, Discovery, and MTN. The SUSA Exponential Finance Summit will bring an industry focus to the financial sector and will showcase over 20 of the continent’s and world’s foremost innovators in technology, finance, and investment, including newly-appointed SingularityU South Africa faculty members. They will address how exponential technologies can help to solve the world’s global grand challenges through the lens of the financial sector.
