2 December 2016 (Helsinki, Finland) – I have been in Helsinki, Finland for Slush 2016 plus a workshop on the IP issues surrounding the Internet of Things.
Briefly: despite the sub-zero temperatures, more than 17,500 people came to Helsinki for the annual Slush event which matches startups with investors. Bigger than almost any other event, the 2,300+ startups came from around the world to match-make with 1,100+ investors, plus attendees that just want to see the next “new new thing”. Held at the Messukeskus Convention Centre (“cyberpunk gothic-tech” as noted by many) it was wall-to-wall with applications that ranged from AI applied text analytics/text extraction to augmented reality to chat bots to food to robotics. I think after Brexit and Trump it was an affirmation that technology and innovation is thriving in a country that gave birth to Linux (still the most influential operating system in the world) and Nokia. Oh, and Angry Birds. Oh, and Clash of the Clans, too.
As I have written before, European technology (and more generally, technology outside of the U.S.) has now broken the mould of trying to be the next “Silicon Valley” and created its own identity and momentum. U.S. companies … Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft, etc., etc. … were here in force because as one attendee told me:
“there are something like 4.8 million professional developers in Europe compared to 4.1 million in the U.S. Given Trump’s threats to curtail work visas, we need to be here looking for talent for our research and development centers.”
As I have noted before, in the last two years U.S. companies have opened more new R&D centers in Europe than in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world.
And the IP workshop? Up until now we’ve been focused on protecting the physical in IoT — devices, structures, the configuration of physical systems, physical outputs, the operation of physical systems and physical connections — but the smart players have been focusing on the needs to be invested in IP protection for methodologies, the configuration of virtual components, data handling and storage, processing algorithms, user interfaces/experiences, methods of use and brand recognition, etc. Huge job. IP lawyers to the rescue!
I will write more on both of these events next week, but what got me onto Trump and conflicts of interest (yes, a long walk off a short pier) was a comment by a long-time IP lawyer friend who said:
“Man, your U.S. litigation attorney friends must be salivating licking their chops. This Trump guy is a madman. You must be anticipating a tsunami of legal work coming out of the Trump administration’s actions … be it plaintiff or defense … and all of these conflict issues.”
Yes, Donald Trump has promised to leave “business operations” to his children. Which is fine because it’s not like he’s close with his children at all or anything.
But in an attempt to assist your analysis since there is no longer anything like truth, here is compendium of comment pulled together by my media team off our news feed … courtesey of Vox, Medium, Quartz, etc.
- On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced (via Twitter, duh) that he’ll roll out a plan in mid-December to separate himself from the “business operations” of Trump companies before assuming the presidency. [BuzzFeed News]
- The announcement is clearly a response to concerns from critics of both parties about Trump’s massive conflicts of interest around the world. It is not, however, enough to assuage them. [Vox]
- For one thing, it’s probable that Trump will simply transfer “business operations” responsibility to his children – who are also helping him conduct diplomatic business. [Think Progress]
- For another, the damage is already being done – Trump’s new DC hotel was awarded a tax break by the District six days after his election to the presidency. [BuzzFeed News]
- The only foolproof way for Trump to avoid conflicts of interest between the presidency and his business holdings is to actually get rid of the latter entirely – an option, as the federal Office of Government Ethics very publicly reminded him Wednesday (also via Twitter, duh), that he still has the chance to take. [Vox]
- Don’t expect him to take it. Trump has always been a crony capitalist. He started his career that way, in New York real estate; he’s likely to end it that way, as US president. [Reason]
- This is an affront to US political norms, for sure. But as Matt Yglesias argues persuasively, comparisons to other countries show that business corruption doesn’t make a politician’s fans think less of him – instead, they have to be shown that his policies don’t really help them. [Vox]
