A sharpened stone was probably one of the first technologies a human used to make his life easier. Smoke signals and drums were used by communities to communicate over great distances – another form of technology. Handling fire. The wheel. The plow, the written word, the engine, the computer. The list of inventions is long and colorful and has evolved in sophistication a lot over the centuries.

Over the ages technology has been the mechanism to manage our environment, making it bearable and increasing the efficiency and productivity of our daily tasks. The triangle Man, Technology and Environment is strongly intertwined. Nowadays technology enlarges our physical powers, extends our senses providing constant information about us and the environment that influence our decision making process, our will and our behavior.

Mankind stands in close contact with technology and therefore we believe in the following

Technologies should be usable by everyone without barriers.

The data and knowledge resulting from technology should be understandable by all.

Technology is a support function in life, it is connected to us as individuals and society.

And our mission is to provide a time and place for everyone to join and co-create. A platform to ideate, to conceive new and fresh ideas for technology.

SHiFT: Social & Human Ideas for Technology

SHiFT is where people from all around the globe share their ideas and put forward their wonders in talks, work sessions and debates in a collaborative conference setting of open discussion and learning. It exists as a platform to voice thoughts and opinions, to capture their diversity and a multitude of contributions, to discover and to explore the spark of imagination.

Everyone finds a place at SHiFT: curious minds and wanderers, tinkerers, professionals, geeks, artists, hobbyists and students to name a few. SHiFT ultimately reflects the time we live in and gives form to the dreams of the future that take place at the very seconds we co-create together.

Our human nature wired us to form relationships, with others and with the world. Fueled by curiosity, our endless imagination and common interests with our peers, we bind in human and social relations present in every aspect of our lives. These bonds are a fundamental characteristic of being human.

It is therefore no surprise that we build technology as a connector, to extend our natural relationships, to allow us to better communicate and better engage with each other. It assists us with the environment surrounding us and improves the interconnected society we live in.

Today everything is connected.

Through technology we have connected computers, networks, mobile devices, digital and physical worlds, we have even connected ourselves. We do it to increase our closeness to others, to exist together and to work collaboratively. Technology helps us shape our society and provides an infrastructure that frees us from time and space. It gives us a window to a different reality.

The Internet of Things refers to a future where objects are connected and provide us information at our will. More and more technological systems today observe and gather information, without interfering or even in many cases our awareness. They shape, alter and intervene in our environments and lives in an ever more pervasive form. Such systems have empowered us, transformed us to connected individuals, always within grasp of all information and control, closer to our governments, public and private organizations... and most of this is true at the distance of a simple internet connection.

Man and Technology have a mutually rewarding relationship.everyone without barriers.

The more CONNECTED we become, the greater the impact across all contexts of our lives: as individuals, as professionals, as citizens and as human beings.

• What are the challenges and opportunities of this Connected era?
• What's driving the connected world?
• What does a connected world look like?
• Does more necessarily mean better?
  Do you ever feel the urge to get disconnected?
  What kind of connected world is meaningful?
• And how will the Connected reality shape us as human beings?