The 3rd edition of the Digital with Purpose Global Summit 2024, organized by the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSi) will take place between the 9th and 11th of July at the Estoril Congress Center. The event will bring together 300 world leaders to promote the adoption of digital innovations that benefit society and contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This year, the highlight is the new theme of Sustainable Finance, accompanied by debates on Biodiversity , Education and Smart and Sustainable Cities.

In an interview with MyBusiness.com and Empreendedor.com, Luís Neves, CEO of GeSi, highlights the Digital with Purpose Global Summit as “a catalyst for concrete actions” that integrate governments, companies, academia and civil society. The aim is to show how technology can accelerate the implementation of digital solutions to meet the SDGs by 2030, with a clear focus on creating a positive and lasting impact.

In this edition, in addition to the inclusion of Sustainable Finance as a new central theme, the conference will address Artificial Intelligence and water management, emphasizing the need to use digital technologies to face global challenges efficiently. The summit will also explore the potential of Gaming for learning and maintain the traditional areas of Biodiversity, Education and Sustainable Cities.

Digital With Purpose Global Summit. Can you explain the concept of this event to us?

The Digital With Purpose Global Summit is not just an event. We can say that it is a booster for all those who see sustainability as crucial for the future. More than debating the topic, we want to act and combine the efforts of governments, politicians, companies, academia and civil society. We don't just want talk, we want action and let's see what we can implement, generating an impact on people's lives for the good of society and the Planet. Our primary objective is to demonstrate the relevance of technology in accelerating and implementing digital solutions that enable the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be met by 2030. During those three days we sought to create a balance that will be maintained beyond the conference. That's why we're calling this summit digital with purpose: digital has to have a purpose and we have to embrace it, leverage what's good and minimize what's going less well. We have to ensure that digital technology can evolve in a way that has a positive purpose for people and it is in this sense that our agenda is designed.

This is a global event that is now in its third edition and has always been held in Portugal. Is there any reason for this choice?

We could have held this conference anywhere in the world, we even had invitations to go to Singapore and Shanghai, but we decided to bring the event to Portugal because we want this to be the country of purpose. I believe it is important to leave a mark and alert the country that digital and sustainability are two central themes. There is no shortage of good examples in Portugal and it even presents itself as pioneers in some areas of innovation and sustainability.
One of these examples is Cascais, the location chosen to host the third edition. This is a village recognized globally as one of the most sustainable and intelligent, offering an inspiring canvas for debate. In this year's edition we want to create a greater connection to the city and bring citizens closer to sustainability. In addition to the main stage and the innovation stage, the summit will organize round tables and workshops for discussion, and two “Night Summit Dialogues” sessions open to the public.

In addition to this approach to citizens at specific times, do we have any other highlights for this year?

One of the highlights of this year is a new topic for debate: Sustainable Finance. We consider this to be an increasingly relevant area for company financing. There is a pressing need to boost the sustainability perspective and integrate it, in a coherent and effective way, into the financing criteria. We know that companies, and in particular banks, are very focused on the need for immediate profit, but this vision needs to change. We believe that this is the fundamental change to be able to accelerate the implementation and practices of ESG (environment, sustainability and governance) and achieve the UN SDGs by 2030.

Another topic that is on the agenda for this edition, and is on the agenda, is Artificial Intelligence. We will have a set of debates and presentation of work based on this theme, which we hope will come together in a single document of recommendations to be delivered to the United Nations and presented at 'The Summit of the Future', in September, during the UN General Assembly , in the United States. The objective is to draw attention to the need to reflect on issues of ethics and human centrality related to the rapid advances in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI).

We will also have a critical topic, which cannot be forgotten when we talk about sustainability, and will be another highlight of our agenda: water management. Not only due to the drought that already affects more than 50 million people around the world, but also due to the waste of this resource, where 80% of what we use is not treated and ends up in the sea, the truth is that technologies could significantly contribute to improve this panorama and we all benefited from the use of digital solutions in this management.

We will also have sessions to assess the potential of Gaming, which can be used for the greater good, focusing on the use of its engaging formats for learning purposes.

Furthermore, we maintain the central areas, which have already been the guide in past editions: Biodiversity, Education and Sustainable Cities, always focusing on digitalization and sustainability.

What has been the impact of the event on the global sustainability panorama and on companies in particular?

Based on the experience of previous years, and the work we have developed at GESI, we have sufficient proof that digital is the key to facing the most urgent sustainability challenges and to empowering world leaders to build a more sustainable future. It is a time for companies in the public and private sectors, small and medium-sized companies, start-ups, industries and cities to accelerate the implementation of innovations and digital and sustainable solutions. More than a summit that promotes the debate on urgent topics for the future of humanity, it is a global meeting point where it is possible to exchange knowledge, innovative ideas, as well as identify business opportunities and define objectives and advance in the implementation of strategies for each one of the topics covered.

In both previous editions, the content of the debates and the conclusions that emerged from them showed how digital technologies can help preserve and protect all forms of life and manage resources in a more efficient way, how we can digitally transform cities and how we can use technology to provide universal access to education and learning, disrupt an outdated education system and raise the potential of our future generations.

For this reason, the balance is extremely positive as we left the summit mobilized, with a global action plan, focused on technology as a fundamental factor in ensuring sustainable development and with a clear vision of how we have already constituted ourselves as a point of meeting of all those: public, private sector and civil society who together, in a credible and transparent dynamic, will work to ensure the sustainability of the planet, guaranteeing the improvement of citizens' living conditions and a fairer society.

Registrations are already open and can be made through the organization's website.