Global innovation and strategic futurist Dr Mark van Rijmenam to headline EDGE 2023

Global innovation and strategic futurist Dr Mark van Rijmenam will deliver his vision on the convergence between generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse during the opening keynote of EDGE 2023, Australia and New Zealand’s (A/NZ) leading channel destination conference. 

As part of this year’s theme, Achieving Growth, Van Rijmenam will explore the exciting and rapidly evolving field of generative AI and its disruptive impact on the metaverse.

During his keynote, he will take a deep dive into these two disruptive forces and where organisations can ‘future-proof’ their operations. 

According to van Rijmenam, if 2021 was the year for the metaverse and 2022 was the year for generative AI, 2023 “will see these disruptive forces converge to kickstart the immersive internet and unleash creativity like never before”.

He will also unpack the use of generative AI in the metaverse that has the potential to transform the immersive internet before it has even arrived, but also consider the risks. 

Van Rijmenam is known as the The Digital Speaker and prides himself as a strategic visionary futurist who enlightens organisations on the transformative power, opportunities and risks of AI, the metaverse and other emerging technologies. 

He is a global speaking fellow, five-time author and founder of the Futurwise Institute, which is dedicated to elevating digital awareness to ensure a thriving digital future. 

He is known for his candid and balanced views on how emerging technologies will impact an organisation and inspire them to embrace and implement emerging technologies, harness them to improve efficiencies and apply tech responsibly to remain competitive and future-proof their operations.

Van Rijmenam’s keynote will dovetail into the overarching EDGE 2023 theme of Achieving Growth.

Set for Saturday 29 July to 2 August at the Novotel in the Sunshine Coast, the A/NZ-specific conference aims to unpack how new technologies such as AI, an evolving cyber threat landscape and compliance and regulation are flooding the technology industry at pace and where partners must prioritise solutions aligned to internal capacity and end-user demand.

EDGE 2023 will aim to nut out the challenges facing the technology ecosystem – converting questions into answers, ideas into game-plans and deals to be done, all while focusing on the technologies and business trends that are front of mind for customers looking into spending plans, pain points and outcomes organisations are seeking.

EDGE Research will examine customer investment and outsourcing priorities across A/NZ, benchmarking end-user plans against technology partner strategies.

Delivered in partnership with Tech Research Asia, EDGE Research will focus on the short- to medium-term opportunities ahead for the outsourcing ecosystem, uncovering what makes end-users tick on both sides of the Tasman. This is alongside insights into the purchasing patterns of organisations, key solution focus areas and the balance of project work being delivered in-house compared to outsourced.

On the flip side, immediate partner priorities will also be outlined from a business and technology standpoint, documenting commercial best practice, customer acquisition tactics and financial models of success.

Unique to the trans-Tasman outsourcing industry, EDGE Research is designed to offer the clearest indication as to whether the ecosystem is aligned with the end-user market. In addition, findings will be further segmented to provide a New Zealand-specific research breakout housing Kiwi data points and insights.

In addition to data-driven insights, EDGE 2023 will house independent and objective speakers to provide unvarnished insights into the mechanics of business and staying ahead of the curve in this precarious business climate.