Paris, 4-5-6 October 2019
From 4 to 6 October 2019, our 20th Eurocapitales Multilateral Meeting took place in Paris, in accordance with our general model, which is now well established and has almost become a tradition.
On Friday 4th, the Steering Committee met at the MEF headquarters, where, at the request of our Finnish friends, we discussed how to ensure that the network has a permanent legal existence. This was followed by a welcome meeting at 6 pm and dinner at the nearby Gallopin restaurant.
The next day was the working day, Saturday 5th October, in the Salle Chaptal at the Hôtel de l'Industrie. The morning was devoted to Brexit: "Facts and arguments" with 5 speakers and Rainer GEIGER as moderator. First there was Yves BERTONCINI, with a commentary on the Brexit, then Emma BELL, from the University of Savoie, on the Irish border, Thibaut HERROIS, from Paris III, on "The UK and the world after Brexit", Jonathan FRYER (London for Europe) on "The present state of Brexit" and our friend Mark PATTERSON (London for Europe) on the question: "What will happen in Great Britain if there is no Brexit? There was a balance of languages and good translation, and everyone was interested.
The afternoon was devoted to AI and the question asked was: "AI in European urban life, opportunity or danger?" moderated by J-C Houdoin. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get everyone I would have liked to come and there were only 3 speakers: Eric HUYBRECHT, who spoke about "European models of intelligent cities", and a guest from Finland, Vile MELONI, programme manager at the City of Helsinki, who spoke about "The role of data and AI in improving services in Helsinki". Finally, Laurence DE VILLIERS, Doctor of Computer Science, talked about "Facial and voice recognition, progress and risks", which was really fascinating.
In the evening, there was a dinner at the Senate in the Salon Napoléon.
Sunday 6th was devoted to a tour of the Latin Quarter with our guide Michel Armalot. The farewell lunch took place at the Bouillon Racine.
