Portugal has become a “great place” for a ‘startup’ to start life, says Microsoft president
The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, considers, in an interview with Lusa, that Portugal has become a “great place” for a ‘startup’ to start life and hire “talented people”, calling the change in the country “remarkable” last years.
“I remember when Microsoft started in Portugal, it was part of the early days of Microsoft’s business and life in Portugal “, recalled Brad Smith, when asked about his vision of the country of a company that marks several years in the Portuguese market.
The first thing I would like to say is that it is remarkable to see how much Portugal has changed, how vibrant the technology sector has become in Portugal”, he continued, giving the example of the Web Summit, which ends this Thursday in Lisbon.
“See how the Web Summit itself fits into Portugal today”, highlighted Brad Smith. Currently, “We have 2,000 employees in Portugal and I remember when Microsoft had two”, commented, a smile.
So “we’ve seen a thousand-fold growth in terms of the number of employees we have here,” he added.
I think Portugal has become a great place for a ‘startup’ to start their life”, considered, noting that the country has also become a “great place to hire talented people”.
And, added, “it’s not just in Lisbon”, but in “multiple cities and towns in Portugal”.
Brad Smith stressed that all countries are trying to figure out how to get out of the covid-19 pandemic and how to adapt to the future.
How do we adapt to a variety of different economic challenges and those that are present here”, he said.
Nonetheless, “I think if you look at the long term, in a way, the most fundamental ingredient for any country is its talent”, he stressed.
In this sense, “Portugal has become a place that has both a great homegrown talent in terms of people who were born here” and has become “a welcoming home for talent from the rest of Europe and even beyond”, he stressed.
I think it’s a very magical combination for the future of Portugal “, surveyed the president of Microsoft.
We must have better systems to measure progress towards sustainability
Environmental commitments such as those agreed at COP26 are crucial, but better systems are needed to assess progress in sustainability so as not to risk missing targets, said Brad Smith, president of Microsoft.
In an interview with Lusa, at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Smith highlighted three encouraging signs that he identified at another summit he visited last weekend, the environmental COP26 in Glasgow.
First, people recognize that they need to do more and do it faster, and I think that’s the first step to really making better progress.”, he said.
Secondly, the Microsoft president points out that there are increasingly strong commitments, citing that of reducing methane as a basis by 30% by 2030, compared to 2020, signed by more than 100 countries, and others around the forest, forestry and reforestation.
Those kinds of promises are essential, but thirdly in a way what encouraged me the most was the less colorful or dramatic aspect, everyone wanted to talk about how we will measure progress “, he explained.
“Everyone recognizes that, without enforcement systems, we are more likely to build expectations rather than how we deliver, that we won’t even know if we’re making progress.” creased.
In this context, the company founded by Bill Gates launched, on October 29, the preliminary version of ‘Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability’.
According to Brad Smith, this is a new tool that allows associations, whether companies or governments, to better manage carbon depreciation to help them register and report as a priority and then reduce them.
“It’s a service that I hope will find widespread demand not just over the next few months, but for years and even decades”.
Microsoft’s president added that it is necessary to build a common understanding of terms like ‘net zero’, a common understanding of carbon mathematics.
We need to build stronger and better carbon accounting standards around the world, a new ecosystem because now, when companies report their carbon needs, they’re indirectly measuring them “, advanced.
“That means they look at how much they spent on airline tickets and then look at a table that gives them an average amount of money provided in euros, for example, on airline tickets, and that’s not necessary for the future.
We want companies that use an airline that uses greener air or cleaner jet fuel to get credit for it in their information reports “, he stressed.
Asked about another aspect of COP26, namely the absence of President Xi Jinping, the president stressed the need for cooperation between the G20 countries.
“We’ve already seen China start to take some important steps and there is real movement in China in some of the steps that matter,” he said.
“We need to bring the world together for this kind of conversation and I look forward to an opportunity in the future where I see all world leaders on the same stage and by definition this must include all 20 G20 members“, he added.
The Web Summit kicked off on November 1st and ends this Thursday in Lisbon, in face-to-face mode, after the last edition was ‘online’ and the organization expects around 40 thousand participants, as revealed in September by Paddy Cosgrave, president executive of the summit.
Comedian Amy Poehler, Microsoft President Brad Smith, European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and footballer Gerard Pique will join more than 1,000 speakers, around 1,250 startups, 1,500 journalists and more than 700 investors, at a summit where topics such as technology and society, among others, will be discussed, according to the organization.
Although the expected number of visitors this year is around 30,000 less than in the last in-person edition, in 2019, the authorities consider that this is the “largest event of 2021” to take place in Lisbon.