Founder and CEO of Web Summit is focused on completing his “Champions League”, a 40,000-person technology conference that returns to Parque das Nações after an all-digital edition and refuses to think about the political crisis in Portugal because what is approaching with great success is an international event. In an interview with Jornal Económico (JE), Paddy Cosgrave says he will have his first official meeting today as the new mayor of Lisbon, and advocates stricter taxation for the wealthy in favor of innovation.
Informant Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, will be at the opening of the web summit. What motivated this choice in favor of the technology stage, given that it has reached one of the social networks on which many of them depend?
I think Francis has a very important message to get across. She is trying to improve social media for the benefit of society and users and looks at the front pages of newspapers around the world these days – The New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times … she is the front page of almost everyone. Is there anything more important in technology? I do not think so. Has she ever spoken publicly outside the US Congress or British Parliament? No. I think that many will be very interested to see her live, to hear and understand that what she is doing is not an easy task. Facebook will also be there with a spokesperson, Nick Clegg, who will share what he has to say. There are both sides, and journalists will have to interpret them.
A year ago, ahead of the 2020 online version, he said that the digital experience of the new platform that hosted the event was worth it. It cost?
Most of the major world events in 2020 got nothing. I think we were the only ones in this dimension that were able to happen with our impressive software, including the United Nations, which started licensing it. So I think we are very fortunate that over the course of almost ten years we have created software that is one of the main differentiators at the Web Summit or any other major event. But if you ask me to choose between a virtual or personal conference in Lisbon, I will choose a personal one every day. This is much better. I’m not a fan of virtual conferences.
I’m not a fan of virtual conferences
The contract they signed states that FIL must increase its area in 2022. Has there been an evolution in this direction to expand conference areas?
I don’t know how to draw an analogy with football, but I would say that the Champions League final will take place next week. Here’s what I can think of. So, all the thinking and planning for the next season starts after the finale, which takes place next week. This is my goal right now. I’m sure everything will be fine and we look forward to learning more about it in 2022.
Did you have your first meeting with the new mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas?
I will have tomorrow [esta quarta-feira, 27 de novembro]… And I will find out the agenda tomorrow, because today I still don’t know. The invitation came from your team. I have known Carlos for half a decade, since I served on the European Innovation Council of the European Commission, and we spent a lot of time together. I think he will become a fantastic mayor of Lisbon, so I am very happy to congratulate him personally and have a constructive conversation with him. Carlos Moedas will also be there on the opening night of the web summit and will attend other important parts of the event and promote the events on the sidelines. It’s incredibly proactive. It is a dream to have a former European Commissioner for Innovation as mayor of any city in Europe. Everyone knows him, he is effective … I think it will be a very interesting term.
Are you worried about the political crisis that Portugal is facing?
I don’t think about it too much. The event, a web summit, will be attended by several representatives of the Portuguese state. These are national problems and this is a global event. They are relevant, but my role is not to comment on them.
What can you expect from this year’s Web Summit?
I think there are several dominant themes and one of them is environmental sustainability. We have over 200 startups focused on ODS [Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da ONU]… We will inevitably solve climate problems through innovation. I hope politicians reach important agreements, but in the end, innovation is important. We will have to innovate in the types of energy we consume, the products we use, and the waste we generate.
The biggest problem we face is not related to content moderation on Facebook. This is the weather.
Our responsibility is to bring people together. And, in my opinion, perhaps not a single business event in the world is devoted to taxes seriously enough. I think that any serious business and meeting between the public and private sectors and citizens should have serious conversations about the environment and taxes. The rich have to pay taxes like everyone else. In fact, they have to pay more taxes.
Do you agree, for example, with the tax reform that the Biden administration is pursuing?
I consider myself a classic liberal. I am firmly convinced that taxes must be paid. Adam Smith made this very clear in The Wealth of Nations, and these messages were ignored for 50 years, with the result that the richest people in the world paid almost no taxes. I think that if we want more innovation, we need more taxation. There is no tax-free innovation because most of the core technologies we rely on today come from government funding.
The rich have to pay taxes like everyone else. In fact, they have to pay more taxes.
