Connect Summit Morocco prepares nation for the migration of high-tech nomads
I wrote this article after attending the Connect Summit Morocco event. It has been published in Morocco World News and other media outlets in the MENA region.
His Excellency Andre Azoulay has always had a vision for his beloved country.
For many decades, Azoulay has served as a senior adviser to His Majesty the King Muhammad VI, providing positive insights and ideas for Morocco’s financial and economic emergence. He is a global citizen and ambassador of goodwill successfully bringing diverse people together to find a common cause. And his Octogenarian voice is heard by the younger generations as they move towards a new, modern society.
Azoulay’s voice welcomed nearly 100 researchers, policymakers, investors, techies, and entrepreneurs from around the world at the Connect Summit Morocco this week in Essaouira.
“I very much believe that diversity is the central energy for social modernity,” said Azoulay.
“One million years ago, the center of humanity was in Morocco… and largely in Essaouira,” said Azoulay, expressing his love for the history of his birthplace. “I envision a limitless place … no fences, no boundaries, no borders… a place for humanity to be together.”
Azoulay’s vision was shared over the course of the two-day summit as speakers and panelists presented their knowledge and experience of the transformative power of digital nomadism.
What is a digital nomad?
The COVID-19 pandemic made remote work and education the norm. Now researchers estimate that there are over 35 million digital nomads and remote workers with the flexibility to sit down and work online from anywhere in the world. There are also forecasts which say the digital nomad comnunity will outgrow the conventional tourist industry by 2030.
Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum issued a white paper entitled The Rise of Global Digital Jobs that provided statistics and informed all countries of the importance of preparing for the new trend and a more digital economy.
“We need digital nomads to create communities and have an impact in Morocco,” said Faical Alaoui, CEO of Consensus Public Relations.
“Morocco needs to be prepared for the fast-growing digital nomad demographic,” said Alaoui. “If we don't understand them, they will come anyway but we won’t get the impact that we want from them,” said Alaoui.
Alaoui, under the mentorship of His Excellency Andre Azoulay, joined ranks with SafetyWing, a health and travel insurance provider for millions of global digital nomads. The summit participants, including industry leaders and decision makers, were given a better understanding of the business and future of global mobility and work.
CPR and SafetyWing also collaborated with the FRDISI Foundation for Research in Science and Engineering, and UM6P and the City of Essaouira.
"As the world turns towards digitisation and remote work, it is a great honor for Essaouira to host an esteemed group of international thought leaders from the digital nomad industry, to help us explore the opportunities this growing market represents,” said M. Tarik Ottmani, Mayor of Essaouira.
Essaouira, with its beautiful beaches and reputation as an artsy town, is a perfect place to invest in the infrastructure for the development of digital nomad communities. The city has several coworking facilities and work-live establishments already catering to digital nomads.
On the second day, the digital nomads caravaned from the Dar Souiri library and conference center to the recently-opened Technopark.
“Welcome to Technopark, the heartbeat of entrepreneurial innovation,” said Madame Lamiae Benmakhlouf, CEO of Technopark.
The City of Essaouira has the largest of five business incubators which provide support and technical assistance to startups and entrepreneurial business development.
The summit also exposed opportunities for Moroccans to live and work abroad as digital nomads in other innovative countries. There are many Moroccans on laptops in cafes working for companies abroad but because of visa restrictions, they do not have the chance to travel and connect to other nomad communities.
Estonia and Malaysia sent representatives to present their programs and inform the participants on how to implement policies which will create hubs for digital nomad communities, advocate for special travel visas for that purpose and ultimately benefit local economies.
During the summit, the nation of Estonia announced a new visa policy that could actually work for Moroccan online workers to join the movement towards digital nomadism.
After attendees and digital nomad were on flights to their next destination, Alaoui immediately attended meetings with Azoulay to discuss next steps and the newly-created opportunity in Estonia.
With so much excitement and new stakeholders, the plan is to advocate for digital nomadism and make Connect Summit Morocco an annual event.