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Web Summit is an annual technology conference held in Lisbon, Portugal. Founded in 2009 by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly, and Daire Hickey, Web Summit was held in Dublin, Ireland until 2016, when it moved to Lisbon. The conference's topics center on internet technology, emerging technologies, marketing and venture capitalism. Web Summit's partners range from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, with attendees representing all levels and sectors of the global high technology industry. SURGE in Bangalore, MoneyConf in Dublin and Web Summit Rio in Rio de Janeiro. Speakers have included a mix of CEOs, subject-matter experts, celebrities, and politicians, including Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Al Gore, Bono, and U.N Secretary-General António Guterres. Web Summit's partners include Fortune 500 companies, government entities, and private foundations, such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Cisco Systems and Microsoft. On January 24, 2024, Katherine Maher announced her departure as CEO of Web Summit to become CEO of National Public Radio (NPR). In April 2024, Web Summit staff were told Cosgrave had decided to return as CEO. Web Summit is set to debut a new conference in Qatar in February 2024. The exhibition will take place at the DECC and is expected to attract thousands of international entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders in the tech world. The WiFi has successfully responded to the exceptional demands placed on it. What are militant anarchists, leftist trade union leaders, right-wing populists and libertarians all doing at a tech conference? O Web Summit já acabou.
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin began work on a project called BackRub, they probably didn't envision the enormous corporation that would grow out of their early efforts. This project evolved into Google, a juggernaut of a company that competes on a global scale with other mega corporations. While the company has products ranging from Web-based e-mail to collaborative office applications, its corporate mission has remained the same. Google's search engine is the oldest and likely most famous tool in the company's arsenal. But the engineers at Google view organizing the world's information as a job too complex for just a search engine. The company designs tools and services that relate to its mission, sometimes in ways that aren't obvious at first glance. One major focus for the company is cloud computing. Companies like Apple and Microsoft offer products that either directly involve cloud computing services or rely on them in some way.
Amazon, the online retail giant, has a thriving cloud storage business. That doesn't mean Amazon has a warehouse filled with fluffy, white clouds. It means the company rents out storage space within its massive data centers. If you are running a company that wants to offer a Web site or service to customers, you may consider using a company like Amazon to host your data. Google also has a reputation for building enormous data centers. In The Dalles, Ore., Google has a data center built next to the Columbia River. Each building in this data center is about the size of a football field. The location has many features that make it attractive for a data center: It's near hydroelectric dams, which makes power accessible and economical. These huge facilities are necessary for Google to carry out its corporate mission. Not only must the company search and index the world's information on the Web but it also has to provide the power for a growing network of cloud computing services.
Now, let's take a look at exactly what cloud computing means. What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is a popular buzz term in technology circles. The phrase has a vague sound to it. What exactly is cloud computing? At its most basic level, cloud computing is a model for remote computer access. The idea is simple: You use your computer and an Internet connection to make contact with a remote server. This server, which is really just a computer, runs applications using its hardware. You're able to influence the application by executing commands through a Web browser or other user interface. But the remote server is doing all the heavy lifting. One reason is that it lets you access applications your own computer might not be able to execute. Your computer only has to run a Web browser or simple user interface. In most cloud computing applications, this client-side program places minimal demands on your machine's resources.
That means you can take advantage of a variety of programs and services without having to continually invest in the fastest computers. Since the cloud computing service is handling all the processor work, you just need a machine capable of connecting to the Internet. Another major selling point for cloud computing services is that they allow you to access your data on a variety of devices no matter where you are. If you rely on your own computer to execute programs, you're limited to that machine unless you make special arrangements. You may have to e-mail a file to yourself so that you can access it on another device. You may have to set up a home network to allow file transfers between machines. And there's the risk that you'll duplicate the file in the process, which can be confusing further down the road -- which file is the real one?
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