The event will take place on September 17th at Culturgest, in Lisbon, and the Secretary of State for Modernization and Digitalization in Portugal, Prof. Alberto Rodrigues da Silva, has been confirmed to give the opening session.
Lisbon, August 21, 2023 – After the success of last year’s theme, “Decoding Generative AI”, the Q-Day Conference is back to explore what remains to be said and, more importantly, implemented in this field. That’s why the 15th edition of Q-Day brings the theme “Generative AI: from Buzz to Business” to the stage.
This edition goes far beyond prompts, LLM, and NLP, among other current buzzwords. We will not merely discuss what Generative AI is and how it has exponentially evolved in the past twelve months. Instead, we will demonstrate practical and real applications of how this technology is being used to create value and drive innovation, efficiency, skills, and sustainable growth in Portugal and worldwide.
Four thematic panels, Denmark as the guest country, and Co-Innovation Awards
The future appears technologically promising, with substantial gains and positive impacts in areas such as healthcare, education, economy, transportation, communication, and sustainability. AI-driven companies are proliferating, AI specialists are increasing, and everything we see and hear seems to be generated by AI. However, appearances can be deceiving. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to distinguish pioneers from those riding the hype wave, separate true innovation from mere marketing ploys, and reward projects that genuinely change the world from those that are simply promises or opportunists. This is what Q-Day 2024 aims to do: help you to find the differences.
In the view of João Paulo Carvalho, Co-founder and Senior Partner of Quidgest, this 15th edition of the Q-Day Conference is doubly special– not only because of the high-level program it brings this year but also because of the milestone it represents in the history of Quidgest and all those who have accompanied it over the years: speakers, clients, employees, partners, media partners, and participants:
2009-2024: 15 Years of Q-Day Conference
The first Q-Day Conference began at 9:00 am on 09/09/2009 and symbolically lasted 9 hours. Since then, the Q-Day has been the stage where the major digital transformation trends of our time are debated. Each edition has brought themes that not only reflected the challenges of the moment – and we faced many in these 15 years – but also anticipated the changes that would shape the future of people and organizations.
In 2009, amidst an economic crisis, we started by exploring “Innovation Against the Crisis”, highlighting the urgent need to find innovative solutions to overcome adversity. This debate laid the groundwork for 2010, when, under the theme “AAA+ Innovation”, we learned how innovation, technology, and knowledge could gain the recognition they deserve on a demanding global scale.
With the need to restore confidence, in 2011, we faced fears with “Overcoming the Adamastor”, a metaphor for the significant challenges facing Portugal that required courage and technological disruption to overcome. This pioneering spirit continued in 2012 with “The Export Route”, where we discussed how companies could expand their horizons beyond borders, taking Portuguese innovation to the world.
In 2013, under the theme “Building the Future”, we explored ideas on how to build a more digital and sustainable future. And, in 2014, we launched the debate on informed decision-making with the theme “Making Better Decisions”. The long-term dimension was further explored in 2015 with “Strategic Intelligence”.
2016 was a year of celebrating Portuguese potential with “Portugal: Sun, Sea & Software”, an ode to our natural and technological competitive advantages. This vision of the future culminated in 2017, when we declared “The Year of Digital Transformation”, a milestone in which digital technology became definitively associated with transformation, and we saw technology serving transformation rather than technology for its own sake.
With digital transformation underway, 2018 brought to the forefront the methodologies that accelerate such change: “Hyper Agile, Lean & Machine Learning”. In 2019, we delved even deeper into the theme with “The New Spring of Artificial Intelligence and Models”, addressing artificial intelligence’s resurgence and modeling’s role in software development to translate the high complexity of business in the digital age. In 2020, the Q-Day Conference was suspended due to a global event that redefined everyone’s priorities: the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, as the world recovered and focused on broader and more ambitious goals, in 2021, we took on the responsibility and mission to discuss the “SDG 2030 – Sustainable Development Goals”, positioning sustainability at the heart of organizations’ strategy and purpose. In 2022, we turned to “Innovation from Within”, a theme that led us to reflect on how changes originating within organizations impact not only their culture but also societies and nations.
In 2023, we beton “Decoding Generative AI”, unveiling its key concepts, schools of thought, and tools like Genio and ChatGPT, which can be combined, learned, and harnessed to do more, better, and with fewer resources. It was a return to the roots, as Quidgest and Genio were founded more than three decades ago under the sign of artificial intelligence.
Now, in 2024, we move forward with “Generative AI: From Buzz to Business”, and we will show how this new technological frontier, more than a source of fascination or curiosity, is already a reality creating tangible value that is redefining business paradigms, transforming public services, and driving individual and collective productivity.
Throughout these 15 editions, the Q-Day Conference has established itself as a reference event in the national calendar, gaining space and credibility by marking the rentrée of events in September with a day of open and accessible debate for all. This gathering, which brings together experts, leaders, and thinkers from various fields, has become synonymous with reflection and anticipation of the most relevant topics of our time. At Q-Day, the country finds a privileged stage to discuss the innovations and critical players decisively and digitally transforming our present and future.
For more information about the event and to register (to attend in person or online via live streaming), please visit the official website here.
