Technology Beyond Borders

Inspired by the WIRED documentary ‘Holy Land: Startup Nations’, this panel explores technology as a potential tool for growth and development beyond geographical and bureaucratic confinement.

In countries and environments where there are limitations on the availability of work in certain fields, or where traditional industries are largely controlled by the government or big businesses, digital technology offers a kind of emancipation due to its separation from geographic constraints.

In Armenia, for example, TUMO allows young people to chart their own learning path through hands-on activities, workshops, and projects at the intersection of design and technology; empowering them to take on different forms of work, start their own studios, or work remotely.

There is also a burgeoning startup industry in Palestine, providing the support and infrastructure for tech businesses to function parallel to the physical restrictions that are created through checkpoints, occupation, and border controls.

Our invited panelists will discuss the limitations and potentialities of the work they do and the environments they work in. Prior to the panel, Avinash Changa, founder and CEO of the virtual reality-business WeMakeVR and one of our panelists, will give a keynote speech.