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"Next Year's News This Week" IRELAND & ICELAND: THE NORTHERN ISLANDS OF TECH By Mark Anderson ________ Why Read: While the landscape of global technology changes by the minute, it's hard to miss the long-term trend of the Nordic countries excelling at technology. Finland, Sweden, the Baltics, Denmark - even the Netherlands - are all stepping up their tech game. Within this geographical growth segment, it's a bit easier to miss the roles of the two northern islands in the region - Ireland and Iceland - partly because they are so different, but also because of their great similarities. Last week, I had a chance to revisit both, and I came away even more impressed than in the past. In this issue, I'll explain what the bigger economies are missing out on. - mra ________ Most Americans, and citizens of other large countries, think of themselves, based on total population size and money, as having an edge. And, of course, that's true, if wisely governed. But what if, say, their country is in the midst of a tulip craze, spending trillions on broken, dangerous software? Is it possible that size, in that (this) chapter of industrial history, is the opposite of what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claimed last week: that those not participating are in fact not the losers in the AI race, but are rather the winners in the larger Beyond LLM race? At this point, I will confess a small conceit to SNS members: the story I'm about to tell has not quite happened yet - but that's our charter here at SNS. So, this issue is about the real tech winners in the world in the next few years - or, if you like, who the winners in the "next-generation AI/ML (machine learning) platform" race are likely to be. Marc Andreessen, a friend and the co-founder of the best-known VC firm in the world - a16z - seems to be writing constantly these days. Marc is famous for several aphorisms, including "Software eats the world" (although today, the reverse - "LLMs eat software" and "Hardware is a better bet" - seem to be in favor). Recently, he issued the edict to young entrepreneurs: "To succeed, you have to live here" [in the Valley or San Francisco]. But again, the reverse might also be true: if you want to "think different," as Steve Jobs said in his most famous Apple commercial, the Valley as it is today may be the last place for you. |
