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Futurist to speak at ILS conference

Future man: Pablos Holman, a futurist, inventor and hacker, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s ILS Convergence conference

A futurist, inventor and hacker with an international reputation is to be a keynote speaker at a major insurance-linked securities conference in November.

Pablos Holman, who helped create the world’s smallest PC, 3D printers at Makerbot and spaceships with collaborator Jeff Bezoz, will be the non-insurance industry speaker at ILS Convergence, to be held at the Hamilton Princess.

Greg Wojciechowski, the CEO of the Bermuda Stock Exchange and chairman of ILS Bermuda, said: “His current work is cutting edge and displays what we can expect for future technologies and its potential impact.

“Mr Holman will talk to our attendees about futuristic inventions and innovation. I’m sure there will be particular interest from attendees in natural disasters, global warming and cyber-risk.”

He added: “The ILS Bermuda thought leadership and education work stream have done an excellent job in securing a speaker that will not only be thought-provoking, but will also speak to innovation in areas that are very relevant to our colleagues in the risk transfer market.”

Mr Holman, who works at the US-based Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, has also helped create artificial intelligence agent systems and the Hackerbot — a robot designed to seek out wi-fi.

Among the projects the laboratory is working on is fission reactor powered by nuclear waste, a machine to suppress hurricanes, a system to reverse global warming and a device aimed at eradicating malaria by using lasers to shoot mosquitoes out of the sky.

Mr Holman has previously addressed technology summits held by the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the CIA in the US, TEDx and the underground hackers’ conference DEF CON.

More than 300 delegates are expected to attend this year’s conference.

Richard Lowther, chief operating officer at Hiscox Re insurance-linked securities and co-chairman of the ILS Bermuda thought leadership and education work stream, said: “Just as new technologies can have a profound impact on society, ILS capital has demonstrated its ability to transform markets.

“As the ILS asset class continues to adapt and evolve, we look forward to hearing Pablos’s vision of the future.”

He added a second heavyweight speaker from inside the industry would be announced in the next few weeks.