More meaningful connections at Iceland Innovation Week — 12th-16th May 2025
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Side Events: Iceland Innovation Week

Are we innovating just because we can, or because we should? Join us for talks on reclaiming the meaning of progress, pathways to innovation that prioritize collective well-being, and a panel discussion on the importance of imagining brighter futures.

Innovation for why? — Arnar Sigurðsson

Innovation of control — Halldóra Mogensen (

Icelandic Association of Humane Technology

Spreadsheets, souls, and fragile futures — Gamithra Marga (

Panel discussion: Haraldur Thorleifsson (

) discuss the importance of imagining brighter futures, moderated by Gamithra (

, next to Kolaportið. Innovative refreshments provided.

Innovation is lauded almost universally across the political spectrum, within different branches of governance, and throughout society. Yet rarely do we ask: Innovation towards what end? Too often, we uncritically equate economic growth with value creation. But the economy doesn't just have a rate of growth—it has a direction of growth. Since the way we wield technology and innovation profoundly shape our society, we must remain critical about how we fund and encourage them. The essential question becomes: Innovation for why?

Arnar is the founder of the innovation laboratory East of Moon and a host of 

In a world where our attention and psychology are exploited for profit, and truth is fragmented by echo chambers and disinformation, we risk losing our capacity for complex, meaningful public dialogue. This talk explores how the technology shaping our reality today may be locking in values of division and control, and why reclaiming our collective vision is essential for fostering a more humane, democratic, and sustainable world.

Halldóra is a founding member of the Icelandic Association of Humane Technology, a former MP of the Pirate Party and a former chair of the Futures Committee of the Icelandic Parliament.

In the pursuit of numbers on spreadsheets, we strip away the complexity that makes systems strong, and lose the sometimes disorganized but healthy, organic diversity that’s naturally built into living beings. This talk is about innovating innovation itself, about stopping to measure what doesn’t need to be improved, about designing creative solutions to global issues while trusting our messy human instincts, and about projects that don’t fit into the box.

Gamithra is the founder of TVÍK, a digital language learning platform, and a co-founder ofthe Icelandic Association of Humane Technology.

Innovation of why: TVÍK