1. Digital Trends
(or: How to implement the future)
Øyvin Halfdan Thuv
CTO Whitefox AS
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@oyvinht

2. Who am I and what can I tell?
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M.Sc. in AI from NTNU
International experience (CERN)
Co-founded Whitefox in 2011
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I did not do these three things by accident
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I will share some thoughts that I think matters to you …

3. Backwards to the future
Last thing first: Why a start-up?
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• Why would you start a start-up?
• Entrepreneurs get rich (...purportedly)
• Sounded like fun/felt like doing it
• Most important:
Nobody really did what everybody really wanted!
• It’s startup-time for technology …

4. Everybody wants usability
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Nobody cared about this ...
... then iPhone came along in 2007
RTFM is the (common but) wrong answer
Mobile shifted around 2009
- the rise of HTML5
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Whilst attending a conference on HTML5 in San Francisco in
2010, three things appeared crystal clear to a colleague and
me ...

5. Everybody wants usability
1.
Android and iPhone would win the mobile market
HTML5 was good enough for most UI’s
= Demand for UI would increase,
development would be standard and easier
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Nobody seemed to do anything about it here in Bodø. Some
even laughed at us for believing in stupid things like an opensource phone OS (this «Android stuff») or design mixed
with «real» technology.
2.
3.
We remained firm
believers.

6. Go international
The world is getting smaller
In other words: Our customers could be anywhere
In other words: Our market is growing.
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!
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The potential to serve this growing market from anywhere is
huge, but we are the ones who must unleash this potential!

7. Go international
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•
•
Just figure out what
must be done locally
Whitefox does design, planning, marketing and
usability. These close-to-the-customer tasks can’t
be (properly) done abroad.
• Find your speciality: Basically anything that requires
local knowledge
• Understand and make use
of internationalization

8. Go international
•
•
•
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Whitefox often uses engineers from abroad ...
… and we have both national and international partners
Cooperate with anyone who have skillz. It really doesn’t
matter where they’re located.

9. Go international
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Unleash the potential of engineers & entrepreneurs!
Become one
Fund some
Start making them (no, not only that way)
Kidsakoder is a great effort!! It’s here in Bodø, and worldwide right now
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10. See what tech brings next
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Netflix beat (the huge) Blockbuster video rentals because it’s
founder «saw it coming». Blockbuster video had no idea they
would be wiped shortly ...
!
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If you’re a student, what appears obvious to you might be
unthinkable in your parent’s generation.
«What’s TV all about?» «What is a phone?»
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmKVRVX4q-k

11. 11

12. What is next?
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Internationalization is only just starting
Data growth is insane
Big Data is the current buzzword ...
... the reality is petabytes++
Visualization is paramount

13. What is next?
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In nearby Fauske they talk about starting to mine again
Last time they started mining (late 1800’s), they needed 3-4
guys just to drill a single blasting hole
The newspapers are full of stories about how this new start will
lift the region etc., etc.
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Who do you think they’ll employ? Hole drillers with sledge
hammers? Obviously not.

14. What is next?
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Lots of obvious places to look for ventures:
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Energy (spot price Big Data mining)
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Real-estate (Geo Data, Big Data)
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Food quality (Big Data, Visualization, ++++)

15. To wrap it up
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Plan your or your students efforts in learning
(there’s too much info to absorb everything)
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Forget borders - go international
(the world is going international)
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Prepare to deliver - or someone else will
(Specialize locally, or deliver globally)
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Remain a firm believer.