May 31, 2023
Tokyo, Japan
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The NexTech Week Blockchain, AI and Quantum Computing Expo at Tokyo Big Sight leaves much to be desired.
I share this reflection with caution. Expos take an enormous amount of effort to put together, and all organizers deserve due credit for their work. And, no less am I grateful to have had the opportunity to experience up close what was, for me, a business convention in a new field, language and country. From my perspective as an American woman, I am struck by the procession of it all, that is, how everything and everyone seemed to go through a series of motions, like they’d this many times before, probably they had. The event was one collective shrug: shoganai, as it is said in Japanese, “this is just how it is”.
That resignation to status quo is precisely what baffles me: everyone just goes through the motions. Twice a year, NexTech Week Tokyo brings together 30,000 professionals in blockchain, AI and quantum computing—some of the brightest minds, from a technical perspective. Naturally, the convention presents a massive opportunity to discuss the state of technological affairs: How is technology solving real world problems? How does quantum computing enable new discovery in astrophysics, medicine? How is blockchain making financial transactions secure and supply chains reliable? How might Artificial Intelligence help us cure disease? I went looking for these answers at booths around the expo. I didn’t find them.
Instead, I found several applications that turned my enthusiasm to concern. One cryptocurrency exchange claimed to go “beyond crypto” but defined such as offering users “more flexibility in investing in various virtual assets” through greater services such as staking, launchpads, swaps, and sellbacks”—essentially, functions that all fall within the cryptoverse [1]. At another booth hosted by several young men in black polos with iPads, the blockchain company Levius touted the tagline “make your life your asset”, building on the emerging concept of “play to earn” with various activities like “run to earn”, “learn to earn” and (perhaps most concerning), “parent to earn.” Through their model, people could purchase a membership token as entry to “play”. When participants completed an activity, such as ran and recorded five miles, they could redeem points and, due to the volatility of cryptocurrency, potentially cash out at a higher value than they paid to participate.
Like similar experiments, this idea has yet to see the market. That’s probably a good thing—is not the underlying implication of “parent to earn” that parents should be financially incentivized to raise children? On the flip side, I suppose that in the most charitable of readings, one could argue that selling NFTs is an innovative solution to capturing the economic value of under-appreciated activities, especially when those activities are good for society. For example, international development agencies have debated ad nauseum how to address the 61.4 billion hours of unpaid caregiving that occurs around the world each year, particularly when 72% of it is performed by women who receive no earned income for their labor [2]. Could NFTs reward women for this work? In this way, could NFTs advance gender equality? If they could, something about the way these young men in polos waived their scripts all lackadaisical, told me that social change was not their motivation.
Is my disappointment lost on this expo? In other words, is it a waste of energy to be disappointed in an initiative that may never have intended to generate more than pure profit in the first place? According to the organizer, RX Japan, the purpose of the establishment “is to contribute to the development of various industries and the revitalization of the Japanese economy by creating exhibitions where exhibitors and visitors can engage in serious business discussion” [3]. The statement is deliberately vague: RX Japan hosts annually 84 exhibitions on topics ranging from technology to livestock to human resources. With such an engine establishing and dismantling trade shows at a rate of seven per month, coordinating the movements of 2.5 million people each year, it is no wonder that RX Japan markets itself to cater to a diverse spread of people [4].
Undoubtedly, the economic upside drives their pace: with each exhibit costing between 1,030,000 JPY (7,622 USD) and 2,900,000 JPY (21,460 USD), RX Japan stands to generate 55.8 billion JPY (>400M USD) per year [5]. And this is just in Japan: according to a press release from 2021, RX Global generates more than 551B USD per year [6]. Naturally, faster production—that is, optimization by going through the motions—yields greater profit. In such an environment, thoughtful consideration of global dialogue towards collective wellbeing and equity has no place.
As an entrepreneur, I understand the hustle. RX Japan is only executing the very ethos of business: optimize, scale, earn. But the question remains: if RX Japan, and more generally, for-profit conference organizers around the world, are to be absolved of responsibility to curate events that not only make money (for themselves or for their exhibiting companies), but that also further a global dialogue about how to create a more equitable world with the technology at hand, who does hold this responsibility? Surely the opportunity should not be missed when so many actors convene in the same room.
One possible answer is: no one. Proponents of a laissez-fair economy might argue that consumer choices themselves constitute a global dialogue: where market actors decide to spend reflects what kind of world they wish to live in—if, for example, it incentivizes adults to parent for money, or fuels same-day delivery in a global pandemic; if it encourages more community gardens, or accelerates gentrification, if if if— In a political economy that defines human progress in terms of market outcomes, companies at trade shows, organizing and exhibiting, impact society simply by being there—by going through the motions. By earning profit, these companies, “contribute to economic revitalization”, to borrow the phrase from RX Japan. In this sense, the responsibility to calibrate business activity to its relevant global context falls on no single company. Put another way one might say that the onus to create a better world falls not on no one, but on everyone. We are all consumers of a global economy that can drive wellbeing if we so choose.
Of course, this is dissatisfactory logic. What that explanation yielded in this narrow experience was a gathering of 30,000 potentially creative, intelligent, compassionate individuals with deep technical skills who did not meaningfully address challenges that do face these societies. At its worst, self-indulgent profiteering is grounds for greed, corruption and exploitation. NexTech Week Tokyo demonstrates that the market alone cannot address complex global challenges—but the good news is that with a conscious effort on behalf of all those involved—indeed, all of us as those which make up these companies—we can initiate change.
When it comes to technology expos, I propose a few ways forward that may reconcile goals of profit and social impact:
First, we can acknowledge the limitations of technology. As a consumer, I want the technology innovators to assume responsibility for acknowledging first the limitations of their innovation. This is because they understand the creation best. Without adequate stock of what an invention can and cannot do, technology innovators risk misleading society at large into thinking that their inventions will solve swaths of problems, thereby potentially attracting funding and attention away from other sources, like civil society, research organizations or government programs that strengthen long term resilience.
This has been apparent lately with the hype surrounding ChatGPT: despite excessive debate over the possibilities and ethics of the chatbot, In the words of chatbot creator, Francesco Rulli, ChatGPT is “eloquent, not intelligent”—at least, not in the capacity that humans can be or need to be. If funding for after school homework help we’re to be suddenly done away with because students now have ChatGPT to help them—why pay teachers extra?— the long term consequences would undoubtedly be lower exam scores, higher dropout rates, and a number of other foreseeable consequences that ultimately depend on actual learning, not factual regurgitation. There are qualitative benefits to social debate and interaction that transcend pure technology and which technology alone cannot provide.
Second, technology companies can collaborate in more meaningful ways. At the same time technology companies need to liaise with the public with honest transparency, they also need to talk to each other. So much of the expo was one-way: I was shocked to see—multiple times—presenters go on stage and deliver their spiels without a single person in the audience. They appeared totally un-phased. The representative would simply ramble on, eyes to the screen or sometimes at a distance point of no significance and deliver the sales pitch. Who was she talking to? What was the point of talking at all if no one was listening? Again, it was a matter of going through the motions, without really connecting to people. But a fundamental principle of any convention is there in the title: a convention means to convene people, to bring us together, to put our work in context of one another’s.
I propose then, that future forums include an intentional effort to convene, such as an opening speech, keynote speaker, or panel topic to set the stage. I understand that presentations cry ‘conference’ more than ‘expo’, but then, perhaps I am calling into question the entire format of an expo altogether. It is true that we resemble a large office of cubicles, just enlarged and set in a gymnasium or auditorium. And the cubicle work model is well researched to have little effect, negative effect in fact, on overall company work culture.
Instead, what if three companies of no obvious relation were to exhibit in the same space and tasked with finding a common narrative among them? Groups might work together to identify synergies and present a narrative that appealed to attendees. Tasked with incorporating external, unpredictable information, companies would not only learn from each other, but they would also render the booth-going experience more intriguing for expo attendees. Interdisciplinary narrative building cannot be accomplished by going through the motions: it requires critical thought, teamwork, and an honest confrontation with what each company has to offer.
Finally, companies might extent their new collaboration to construct a more dynamic narrative to the expo attendees—indeed, asking of them not to be merely an attendee but a participant. I recognize that this is not what conventional expose expect of their attendees—but neither is it too much to ask. As a social enterprise keen on accelerating social and environmental impact, it is only natural that we ask this question. We wouldn’t be living up to our own expectations if we did not. What is the social or environmental impact opportunity here? And how are we capitalizing on it, encouraging it?
Perhaps the greatest impact one can have, at least, the deepest impact, is through leading by example. While one can only do so much and so this is not a “scalable solution” perhaps, leading by example will affect those around you, in your context. In our context, we can lead by example, starting with how we reflect on this expo and approach the next one.
Written by Madi Lommen.
Madi Lommen is a writer, athlete, and Partnerships Lead for Socious.
Footnotes:
1. Kanga. https://kanga.exchange/we-are-entering-a-new-era-of-cryptocurrency-trading-with-kanga-beyond-crypto
2. ILO (2018). Care Economy (Press Release). https://www.ilo.org/asia/media-centre/news/WCMS_633284/lang--en/index.htm#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20report%2C%20Globally,rises%20to%2080%20per%20cent.
3. RX Japan. « Philosophy » https://www.rxjapan.jp/en/message/
4. This number is calculated by multiplying the exhibitions that RX Japan hosts annually (84) by the number of visitors that the most recent exhibition attracted (30,000). The average number of visitors per exhibition is not given.
5. This number is calculated by multiplying the number of exhibitors per year (30,000) by the mean cost of exhibition (1860,000 JPY). Details on costs per exhibition are here.
6. https://rxglobal.com/exhibitions-generate-eu493-551-billion-business-sales-each-year-driving-industries-eager-recover
在东京Big Sight举行的NexTech Week区块链、人工智能和量子计算博览会留下了很多值得思考的地方。
我谨慎地分享这一反思。组织博览会需要巨大的努力，所有组织者都应得到应有的赞誉。我也非常感激有机会近距离体验对我来说是一个新领域、新语言和新国家的商业会议。从一个美国女性的角度来看，我对这一切的进程感到震惊，即每个人似乎都在经历一系列的动作，像是他们之前已经做过很多次，可能确实如此。这个活动就像是一个集体的耸肩：用日语来说，就是“这就是这样”。
这种对现状的接受正是让我困惑的地方：每个人都只是走过场。
每年两次，NexTech Week Tokyo汇集了30,000名区块链、人工智能和量子计算领域的专业人士——从技术角度来看，是一些最聪明的头脑。自然，这个会议提供了一个巨大的机会来讨论技术现状：技术如何解决现实世界的问题？量子计算如何在天体物理学、医学中启发新的发现？区块链如何使金融交易安全并使供应链可靠？人工智能如何帮助我们治愈疾病？我在博览会的展位上寻找这些答案，但没有找到。
相反，我发现了一些应用程序，让我的热情转为担忧。一个加密货币交易所声称要“超越加密货币”，但定义为通过更大的服务（如质押、启动平台、交换和回购）为用户提供“更多灵活性投资于各种虚拟资产”——基本上，都是属于加密货币领域的功能。在另一个展位上，由几名穿黑色Polo衫、拿着iPad的年轻人主持，区块链公司Levius打出了“让你的生活成为你的资产”的标语，基于“玩赚”的新兴概念，推出了各种活动，如“跑步赚”、“学习赚”和（或许最令人担忧的）“育儿赚”。通过他们的模式，人们可以购买会员代币作为“玩”的入场券。当参与者完成一项活动，如跑步并记录五英里，他们可以兑换积分，并且由于加密货币的波动性，可能以比参与时更高的价值兑现。
像类似的实验一样，这个想法还没有进入市场。这可能是一件好事——“育儿赚”的潜在含义难道不是父母应该为了经济激励而养育孩子吗？另一方面，我认为在最仁慈的解读中，可以认为出售NFT是一种创新的解决方案，可以捕捉被低估的活动的经济价值，特别是当这些活动对社会有益时。例如，国际发展机构已经讨论了如何解决全球每年发生的614亿小时无偿护理工作，特别是其中72%是由没有收入的女性完成的。NFT能否奖励女性的这项工作[2]？这样，NFT能否促进性别平等？如果可以的话，这些穿Polo衫的年轻人挥舞他们的剧本时显得漫不经心，让我觉得社会变革并不是他们的动机。
我对这个博览会的失望是否被忽视了？换句话说，对一个可能从未打算产生纯利润以外的更多东西的活动失望是否浪费精力？根据主办方RX Japan的说法，成立的目的是“通过创造展览，使参展商和参观者能够进行严肃的商业讨论，从而促进各行业的发展和日本经济的振兴”。这个声明故意模糊：RX Japan每年举办84个展览，主题从技术到畜牧业再到人力资源。每年协调250万人次的活动，RX Japan以迎合各种人群为目标也就不足为奇了[4]。
毫无疑问，经济利益驱动了他们的步伐：每个展览的费用在1,030,000日元（7,622美元）到2,900,000日元（21,460美元）之间，RX Japan每年可以产生558亿日元（超过4亿美元）的收入。而这仅仅是在日本：根据2021年的新闻稿，RX Global每年产生超过5510亿美元的收入。自然，更快的生产——也就是通过走过场来优化——带来了更大的利润。在这样的环境中，对全球对话的深思熟虑和集体福祉与公平没有立足之地。
作为一名企业家，我理解这种忙碌。RX Japan只是执行了商业的基本理念：优化、扩展、赚钱。但问题仍然存在：如果RX Japan，或者更普遍地说，全球的营利性会议组织者，不需要负责策划不仅赚钱（为自己或参展公司），而且还促进全球对话，探讨如何利用现有技术创造一个更公平的世界，那么谁来承担这个责任？当这么多参与者聚集在同一个房间时，机会不应被错过。
一个可能的答案是：没有人。自由市场经济的支持者可能会认为，消费者的选择本身就构成了全球对话：市场行为者决定在哪里花钱反映了他们希望生活在什么样的世界里——例如，它是否激励成年人为了钱而养育孩子，或者在全球疫情中推动当天送达；它是否鼓励更多的社区花园，或者加速城市更新……在一个以市场结果定义人类进步的政治经济中，贸易展上的公司，通过存在本身就对社会产生影响——通过走过场。通过赚取利润，这些公司“为经济振兴做出了贡献”，借用RX Japan的说法。从这个意义上说，将商业活动校准到其相关的全球背景的责任不在任何一个公司。换句话说，可以说创造一个更美好世界的责任不在于没有人，而在于每个人。我们都是全球经济的消费者，如果我们选择，它可以推动福祉。
当然，这种逻辑令人不满意。这个解释在这次狭窄的体验中得出的结论是，聚集了30,000名可能具有创造力、智慧和同情心的个体，他们拥有深厚的技术技能，却没有真正解决这些社会面临的挑战。在最糟糕的情况下，自我放纵的牟利是贪婪、腐败和剥削的根源。NexTech Week Tokyo表明，仅靠市场无法解决复杂的全球挑战——但好消息是，通过所有相关方的有意识努力——确实，作为这些公司的组成部分的我们所有人——我们可以启动变革。
在谈到技术博览会时，我提出一些可能调和利润和社会影响目标的方法：
首先，我们可以承认技术的局限性。作为消费者，我希望技术创新者首先承担起承认其创新局限性的责任。这是因为他们最了解自己的创造物。如果不充分了解发明的能与不能，技术创新者可能会误导整个社会认为他们的发明可以解决大量问题，从而可能吸引资金和注意力远离其他来源，如民间社会、研究机构或加强长期韧性的政府项目。
这在最近的ChatGPT热潮中尤为明显：尽管围绕聊天机器人的可能性和伦理展开了大量讨论，但正如聊天机器人创作者Francesco Rulli所说，ChatGPT是“雄辩的，而不是智能的”——至少不像人类那样智能，或者说不像人类所需要的那样智能。如果课后作业辅导的资金突然被取消，因为学生现在有ChatGPT来帮助他们——为什么要多付老师呢？——长期后果无疑是考试成绩下降、辍学率上升，以及其他许多最终依赖于实际学习而不是事实重复的可预见后果。社会辩论和互动的定性益处超越了纯粹的技术，而技术本身无法提供。
其次，技术公司可以以更有意义的方式合作。在与公众进行诚实透明的沟通的同时，技术公司也需要彼此对话。博览会的大部分都是单向的：我多次看到演讲者上台演讲，而观众席上没有一个人。他们似乎完全不受影响。代表们只是喋喋不休，眼睛盯着屏幕或有时盯着一个无关紧要的远点，进行销售演讲。她在和谁说话？如果没有人听，讲话的意义是什么？这又是走过场，而没有真正与人连接。但任何会议的基本原则就在于其标题：会议意味着召集人们，把我们的工作放在彼此的背景中。
我建议，未来的论坛应包括有意图的召集努力，例如开幕致辞、主题演讲或小组讨论以定下基调。我理解演讲更像是“会议”而不是“博览会”，但也许我质疑的是整个博览会的形式。确实，我们像一个大型的隔间办公室，只是放大并设置在体育馆或礼堂中。隔间工作模式经过充分研究，对整体公司工作文化几乎没有影响，事实上是负面影响。
相反，如果三个没有明显关系的公司在同一空间展示，并被要求找到他们之间的共同叙述？小组可以合作识别协同效应，并提出一个吸引与会者的叙述。被要求整合外部、不可预测的信息，公司不仅可以相互学习，还可以使博览会的参观体验对参观者更具吸引力。跨学科的叙述构建不能通过走过场来完成：它需要批判性思维、团队合作和诚实面对每个公司所提供的东西。
最后，公司可以将他们的新合作扩展到为博览会的参观者构建一个更动态的叙述——确实，要求他们不仅仅是参观者，而是参与者。我认识到这不是传统博览会对参观者的期望——但这也不是过分的要求。作为一家致力于加速社会和环境影响的社会企业，我们提出这个问题是很自然的。如果我们不这样做，就无法达到自己的期望。这里的社会或环境影响机会是什么？我们如何利用它，鼓励它？
也许一个人能产生的最大影响，至少是最深远的影响，是通过以身作则。虽然一个人能做的有限，因此这可能不是一个“可扩展的解决方案”，但以身作则会影响你周围的人，在你的环境中。在我们的环境中，我们可以以身作则，从如何反思这次博览会并接近下一次博览会开始。
Written by Madi Lommen.
Madi Lommen is a writer, athlete, and Partnerships Lead for Socious.
Footnotes:
1. Kanga. https://kanga.exchange/we-are-entering-a-new-era-of-cryptocurrency-trading-with-kanga-beyond-crypto
2. ILO (2018). Care Economy (Press Release). https://www.ilo.org/asia/media-centre/news/WCMS_633284/lang--en/index.htm#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20report%2C%20Globally,rises%20to%2080%20per%20cent.
3. RX Japan. « Philosophy » https://www.rxjapan.jp/en/message/
4. This number is calculated by multiplying the exhibitions that RX Japan hosts annually (84) by the number of visitors that the most recent exhibition attracted (30,000). The average number of visitors per exhibition is not given.
5. This number is calculated by multiplying the number of exhibitors per year (30,000) by the mean cost of exhibition (1860,000 JPY). Details on costs per exhibition are here.
6. https://rxglobal.com/exhibitions-generate-eu493-551-billion-business-sales-each-year-driving-industries-eager-recover
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Ein typisches Stellenbeschreibungsformat umfasst die Stellenbezeichnung, die Abteilung, eine Zusammenfassung/Zielsetzung, Verantwortlichkeiten, Qualifikationen, Berichtsstruktur, körperliche Anforderungen, Gehaltsspanne, Leistungen und Vergünstigungen, Unternehmenskultur und Bewerbungsanweisungen. Dieses strukturierte Format gewährleistet Konsistenz und Klarheit über alle Stellenbeschreibungen hinweg.
Präsentation der Unternehmenskultur
Stellenbeschreibungen bieten die Möglichkeit, die Kultur und Werte Ihres Unternehmens zu präsentieren. Integrieren Sie einen Abschnitt, in dem Sie die Mission, Vision und Grundwerte Ihres Unternehmens hervorheben und hervorheben, wie diese mit den ausgeschriebenen Stellen übereinstimmen. Die Verwendung einer inklusiven Sprache und die Vermeidung geschlechtsspezifischer Begriffe fördert ein einladendes Umfeld für alle Bewerber.
Formatierung und Lesbarkeit
Die Lesbarkeit und Formatierung Ihrer Stellenbeschreibungen wirken sich erheblich auf das Engagement der Bewerber aus. Verwenden Sie kurze Absätze, Aufzählungszeichen und Unterüberschriften, um die Lesbarkeit zu verbessern. Wenn Sie Verantwortlichkeiten und Qualifikationen in einzelne Abschnitte unterteilen, können die Informationen leichter überflogen werden.
Schlüsselwörter strategisch einsetzen
Integrieren Sie relevante Schlüsselwörter auf natürliche Weise in die Stellenbeschreibung. Diese Schlüsselwörter sollten die Fähigkeiten, Qualifikationen und branchenspezifischen Begriffe widerspiegeln, die mit der Rolle verbunden sind. Führen Sie eine Schlüsselwortrecherche durch, um die am häufigsten gesuchten Begriffe in Ihrer Branche zu ermitteln.