My name is Van Kalas. I am 38 years old. I grew up in Helsinki which is the capital city of Finland. As they say it, passion develops at an early age. My love for technology grew when I was ten years old. At that time, only the wealthy people had phones and not mobile phones but landlines. My parents would send letters to relatives through someone who was traveling to their place. As time went by, my neighbor who worked at the county bought the first landline. It was like heaven on earth, and people would flock at his place to makes calls to their loved ones. At some point, he started charging them.
My interest in technology grew when mobile phones were brought to our capital. People opened mobile shops where they would sell phones, and I can remember how expensive they were because my parent could not afford one. After a few years of having Nokia phones, I saw Samsung phones which were a bit affordable; my father bought one phone which he used both for business use and personal use. My cousin who had just completed his college was employed as a technician in one of the Samsung shops in our town.
I would visit him often and that where I started learning about different models of phones and how they operate. At that time, customers would come with damaged telephones, and I would see my cousin repairing them. When I learned the art of fixing, I requested my cousin to ask his boss if he could hire me to work as a technician. To my surprise he accepted. As I renovated different mobile phones, the more I learned. Samsung had more work compared to Nokia which was the first phone to arrive in Finland.
In 2007, I opened up my own business. At that time, we only dealt with rebuilding phones and electronics which were either damaged due to overheating or electrical breakdown. Many people had so many electronics which were not working because of one element or another. I started purchasing these machines, and after adjusting them, I would then sell them at a lower price.
By 2012, my business grew so did technology, I stopped purchasing used electronics and started selling new ones. As technology advanced, I realized that I needed well-specialized equipment to serve my customers. Previously, computers and laptops were used by the rich in society, and anyone who owed such a device was respected. So, I decided to import computers, and it reached a point where I started teaching computers at my workplace, I would educate both young and old on how to send e-mails and also browse on the internet.
By then, the internet was provided by mobile providers. People who didn't have a phone would pay to make a call at my booth. I also learned how one would read online materials and put them into practice. There was a time a student asked a question, and I had to look for the answer on the internet. As technology improved, I started selling laptops to business and university students. After that, I enrolled for an online course in Business information technology to understand more about business and technology.
After completing my degree, I joined the ICT department in one of the firms in Helsinki which closed in 2015. There, I met different people with different ideas in business and also in technology. They made me realize how technology would change in a few years. To my surprise, it broke. More electronic came in like tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs and so on.
Last year, I opened a co-working space at the heart of Helsinki where different industries can work in. Technology has made it possible for people in different companies to work in the same place. I own a technology consultancy firm where I advise the best software to use on various businesses. At my firm ideas come to life, and the company is established. I tend to employ young people especially graduates who have fresh ideas and understand technology.
My view of the future is that more innovation will occur, and less labor will be needed. Remember when we used to watch movies with robots, and we thought it just fiction. Last year we saw the launch of robots in different countries and these robots performed tasks as humans. In the next three years, there will be more robots and significant advancement in technology. Currently, businesses have embraced Chatbots, and the following robots will perform secretarial duties and many other duties.
Technology advancement makes the world a better place because one can access basic needs online by ordering them and delivery is made at their doorstep. Artificial intelligence will take over the computing system and will act as a management tool like the cloud. Businesses will opt to use this intelligence to hide documents which can stay up to one hundred years even if the bot collapses. Amazon Alexa is one example of artificial intelligence where it can manage a home or business and does not reveal information unless the owner asks.
Technology means better healthcare, better delivery of service and an improved world. With the help of IT experts, the world will change from how it is right now. Modernized equipment will be created, and some services will be available anywhere without traveling miles to find a specific service or product.