WELCOME TO DAVOS 2024!
January 2024 is marked as a crucial week for the tech industry in Davos, renowned for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), where prominent leaders gather from multiple parts of the world to discuss the future of politics, business, academia and technology.
The Swiss town is widely recognized as a high-profile center for global topics and discussions in fostering international cooperation and innovation, and the teams from CV Summit and Phygicode have reunited to explore the latest and future technological advancements and educational purposes in Web3 and Blockchain.
This year, there will be a special focus on Spatial Web, with a highly curated “Phygital Wednesday” at WEB3 HUB by CV Labs/CVVC and Phygicode, comprised of C-suite roundtables, fireside chats and conversations with phygital fashion leaders making their debut in Davos!
Topping the day is the Cocktail event hosted by Phygicode and OVER the Reality and the presentation of the Phygicode Impact Awards celebrating the Impact Organization, Infrastructure Leader and Phygital Brand of the Year.
PHYGICODE’S METHODOLOGY IS OUR PRESENT
Phygicode’s tagline in 2022, displayed in its prior Davos materials read: “THE FUTURE IS PHYGITAL.”
Today, Phygicode’s leadership points out that “THE PRESENT IS PHYGITAL!”
One of the most talked about concepts in products and experiences these days is phygitality: phygital assets, phygital fashion and phygital production, referring to assets that exist in both the physical and digital worlds, combining elements of the physical world (also known as Real World Assets or RWAs) with digital technology.
Phygicode stands out as a leader in the phygital conversation because it was founded and is run by individuals who have been working in the phygital space since the term emerged about 17 years ago.
Many believe that the term phygital was coined in 2007 by Chris Weil to describe the inseparable connections between the physical and the digital worlds.
Many retail industry veterans like Phygicode’s Founder and CEO, Andrea Abrams, recall using the term in the early 2000s to refer to a “phygital retail experience”, as they explored in-store digital commerce by introducing online-only product that could be purchased via tablets located in the physical store.
The basic concepts of physical and digital and the practice of digital twinning are not new but, as noted by Abrams, “the tools and what we can do with them are new and the level of physical and digital interaction is about to get really exciting in 2024.”
Andrea Abrams launched Phygicode in late 2021, initially as a consortium of C-suite executives exploring physical and digital brand connectivity for products and experiences in retail and fashion.
After a long career as a global shopping center executive, which included helping brands enter new countries and guiding digital native product makers born out of Web1 and Web2 enter the physical retail ecosystem with popups, activations and store rollout strategies, in 2018, Abrams began focusing her efforts as an investor and strategist to solving many of the problems affecting the retail and fashion ecosystems.
Retail Technology startups were mostly looking at POS and inventory management solutions and blockchain startups promised a future of “connected products”, whose digital passports would open a world of trusted data, authenticity and immutability.
Andrea’s mission of facilitating the connection between the emerging technologies being developed by many of the companies she invested in and the legacy infrastructure and processes of the retail, fashion and hospitality industries, led her to expand Phygicode to a strategy Lab and a SaaS engine.
Furthermore, she is actively engaged in pre-seed funding for prominent startups in both the physical and digital commerce sectors, such as Threedium (where she is also an NDE), Faith Tribe (where she’s been Chief of Strategy since 2022 and is now a Board Advisor), Lukso (where she’s been a Board Advisor since 2020), among others.
Andrea is also active in the industries she is trying to transform, a prior member of ULI (Urban Land Institute), International Council of Shopping Centers, and British Council of Shopping Centers, and she is now a Board Advisor at Digital Fashion Week.
Recognized for her achievements, she has been named a Global Top 100 Women of the Future and was featured in its inaugural Global Book, has spoken on the topics of Metaverse and physicality at Vogue Game Changers, acted as a Farfetch Incubator Mentor and participated as a curator for Metaverse Fashion Week.
Today Phygicode has expanded its consortium to over 30 members, and Andrea is building a leadership team of like-minded industry veterans with very global and multifaceted backgrounds. The Phygicode strategy Lab and the new SaaS offering are verticals devoted to the advancement of phygital products and experiences, bridging the gap between physical and digital tools, and connecting academia to industry to enable adoption of the Spatial Web. Phygicode’s goal is to enhance physical products and activities with immersive technology.
In addition, the newly formed Phygicode Connect vertical is devoted to providing corporate level education and adoption programs for truly phygital commerce and community engagement.
Joining Andrea in Davos to MC Phygital Wednesday and two other power ladies of Web3 – Phygicode’s Head of Marketing and Phygital Product, Eda Aguilar, and Phygicode Connect’s Strategic Partner, Noelle Reno. The Phygicode team is also bringing C-suite representation from many of their partner companies leading transformation in the phygital economy, including 3D internet engine, Threedium, AR pioneer, OVER the Reality (offering a decentralized digital layer to create never-before-seen geolocalized experiences), phygital fashion experts such a Phygital Twin and Doors3, and tech infrastructure leaders such as Ownerchip and Worldline, among others.
Also featured during Phygital Wednesday will be several industry influencers, including gmoney and 9dcc, making their Davos debut.
THE MOST AWAITED TOPICS AND TRENDS
In the dynamic landscape of Web3, several pivotal trends are reshaping the future of decentralized economies and phygital commerce.
Guests at Phygital Wednesday will be delighted by joining 3 roundtables and several fireside chats including some surprise speakers, and culminating the day with a networking apero and presentation of immersive product and experiences.
During one of the roundtables, the esteemed Tech and Science Editor, Carina Schuster, will join a conversation about Marketing, Education and Communication guidelines for a Phygital World, and share impactful stories and expertise in the dynamic convergence of technology and digital journalism.
The Phygital Wednesday conversations will also tie into the continued expansion of decentralization and the power of blockchain to be highlighted in the other 3 days of Web3 Hub.
WHAT ARE PHYGITAL WEDNESDAY SPEAKERS SAYING AHEAD OF DAVOS 2024?
Andrea Abrams, Founder & CEO of Phygicode:
“As we arrive in Davos with our elite group of C-suite speakers, I want to emphasize the importance of mature conversations about the infrastructure behind our new phygital reality. In my first Davos event with @cvlabszug a few years ago, we talked about the phygital future. The future is now, the present is phygital!
“We will explore our phygital economy, how to be proactive recipients of technology and influence our future, how to leverage our resources and re-invent our path with the support of leading ecosystem enablers. This will be one of our most transformative years history.”
Eda Aguilar, Phygicode Head of Marketing and Phygital Product:
“Phygitality transcends merely crafting digital twins or NFTs and holds the potential to foster significantly more meaningful engagement, not just within the fashion sector but across all industries.”
Diego Di Tommaso, Co-founder & COO of OVER the Reality:
“The year 2024 marks a turning point in Augmented Reality (AR), driven by advances in AI, computer vision, and devices like Apple’s Vision Pro. We’re thrilled to announce our official partnership with Phygicode and to join Web3 Hub in Davos, showcasing how OVER tech can create immersive experiences powered by Digital Twins of the physical world”
“This collaboration signifies an unparalleled fusion of the digital and physical realms, paving the way for a new era of interactive and immersive experiences for real estate.”
Mike Charalambous, Co-founder & CEO of Threedium:
“The world of static 2D commerce is becoming archaic. User behavior is evolving and brands striving for distinction recognize the need to meet consumer demands for enriched, customizable experiences on the spatial web.
“In the next 24 months, brands and retailers will be on a mission to revolutionize digital landscapes, equipping their businesses with engaging and immersive capabilities.”
Carina Schuster is a multilingual tech and science editor for The London Financial & a podcast anchor and producer for SciTech Suisse, covering groundbreaking stories in the matter of disruptive technology developments and interviewing top experts in AI, the Metaverse, Web3, Blockchain and scientific research. Throughout her experience as a journalist in the editorial and digital worlds, she was selected by CNN Money Switzerland in 2020 as a digital producer intern and has demonstrated a collaborative and creative spirit, working alongside talented journalists and delivering impactful stories with the main aim of simplifying the complexity of technology.