Attendees at Singularity University's second European Summit included over five hundred executives from European companies and representatives from French schools HEC and the Université Catholique de Lille. For €2,000, attendees had the chance to hear speakers discuss topics such as robotics, biotechnology, exponential technologies and disruption. Raymond McCauley even had a RFID chip implanted in his hand before a live audience.
Since its founding in 2008, Singularity University has become a key partner for professionals looking to learn about the technologies of tomorrow, stay abreast of the latest inventions and keep their fingers on the pulse of new markets. Yet Singularity University is not a university at all. It has no real research laboratory and does not issue traditional diplomas. What it does offer at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars are training programs for entrepreneurs and executives.
technology transfers in DNA
Above all, the university preaches that technology will solve the world's problems and that people have the absolute right to alter their bodies. Singularity University is so enthusiastic about humans' ability to modify living beings that it doesn't even bat an eye at ideas that evoke eugenics. The university is sometimes viewed as a cult. Thanks to its drive and fundraising prowess, it has cast a spell over its followers.
Technology transfers are in Singularity University's DNA. To reach its goals, the university organizes competitions and leverages funds. None of this would have been possible without the support of companies like Google, Nokia and Genentech, which helped found Singularity University and provide expertise and funding. Each new invention born of this creative ecosystem, from driverless cars to 3D printers and augmented reality, upends part of the traditional economy. This is where Singularity has made its home. Although the university does not necessarily invent the future itself, it is certainly is among the first to reap the rewards.
