“Internet today is not just speed, it’s an ecosystem that stimulates your constant improvement”, says Idrakas Dadašovas

Penki Kontinentai is not just one of the first Lithuanian-based IT companies, successfully operating for more than a quarter of a century; it is often mentioned among those with great innovative software development and maintenance experience. Moreover, it was among the first to create an online search system (Grand Prix at the 1999 Lithuanian WWW Championship) – or the first national Press.lt news app (the then best in Europe). It was also the first to offer its customers fiber-optic Internet services – and the first that used IPTV technology for live video streaming.

Idrakas Dadašovas, Penki Kontinentai Board Chairman, says that ever-changing technologies change our understanding of our environment. The 21st century cannot be imagined without developing the “Internet of things,” biometric technologies, and artificial intelligence systems.

This year, Skynet, a fiber-optic network celebrating its 20th anniversary, also made a new step by changing its trademark to Penki.

– How have Internet technologies changed over the past 25 years?

In 25 years, not only technologies, the essence of understanding the Internet has changed. We no longer need to know the essential things required several decades ago. It is no longer relevant or interesting to talk about the fast Internet or a reliable and stable connection. I myself rarely use the word “Internet,” and I do not associate it with speed, technically, be it 100 Mbps or 10 Gbps. For the Internet today, you do not care about technologies; this is quite clear for everyone.

At this stage, our task is far more difficult: we should create a different intellectual environment that would stimulate your constant improvement and help you develop and implement your ideas. So that in this environment, anyone could use the accumulated experience, find the best possible solution, implement his or her own dreams, and decide about the future.

We do our best to help those people and companies with their own ideas and developments in the most diverse fields of intellectual products. We want to encourage them to believe in their strength and help to achieve their goals. Today our motto is “More opportunities!” Moreover, we feel we are needed only when others manage to achieve their goals with our help.

– How can modern technologies help to achieve those goals?

Today, technologies should be invisible to the common people; nevertheless, they must predict what you want. When we started talking about “smart home” technologies over two decades ago, everyone was amazed. Today, these technologies do not surprise anyone. For example, I come home – the doors recognize me; open themselves, the lights turn on; when I go out, the lights turn off, and the doors get locked. We no longer need to worry about home security, saving electricity, and many other things. You don’t need to worry about information – it must be securely protected and, at the same time, available on the Internet: anywhere, any time, and from any device. Only when many small things you spend a lot of time do not distract you can you devote yourself to dreams, creativity, and changing the whole world. People tend to forget about many things, so the objects surrounding them should remind them what and when they should do. Undoubtedly, the security and confidentiality of data are fundamental here.

Many world corporations use and develop big data and multi-channel technologies, the Internet of things (IoT), neural networks-based biometrical and navigation systems, and artificial intelligence. All this helps to achieve the set goals. New tools that combine high-speed and general communication with big data appear.

Technologies should free us from unnecessary trifles that distract us from focusing on the main things, creating a totally different behavior and thinking model. Naturally, all technologies should not work for us, but stimulate our imagination and will – and promote their implementation.

-In today’s language, more than twenty years ago, you were an IT start-up. What role did Skynet play then?

At that time, carrying out each new project, you immediately thought about its completeness. Each of those projects had its own beginning and the end. And we tried to “infect” those who aspired to realize their intentions with them.

When we offered the then fastest Internet connection in Lithuania, it was important for us to ensure high data transfer speed and create a new information society culture. There were many scientists, intellectuals, politicians, people of culture, and arts. I keep recalling nostalgia when we opened the Internet cafe where you could drop not only for a coffee cup but also to discuss how video cams could be used in Internet chats. IP-telephony, or online games…

Fiber-optic technologies offering much higher data speed have opened up new opportunities. For that reason, we have taken the word Skynet to indicate the latest communication technologies – and the fastest speed.  Still, due to insufficient Internet speed, people could not imagine the current media opportunities – and the texts prevailed, and there was no possibility of watching video clips. However, when we started providing Internet services, our motto was “Listen, look and read.” Many people treated us with skepticism in those days…

– Skynet is changing its brand name to Penki. Why Penki?

Although we have been providing Internet services for a long time, Skynet was not associated with the entire group of companies; today, we are taking this step, as it really corresponds to our overall strategy. We want all the activities of the group to be associated with the principal brand name.

Having registered Penki Kontinentai, we did not need to change this brand. Until now, both our friends and partners call us simply Penki. In other words, we are a team of professionals always ready to help, to “give five.”

Besides, there is considerable optimism in the word “five.” Innovation, individuality. Until recently, “five” used to be the highest rating at school – although it has doubled to ten. And we are always open to cooperation, providing the highest quality services.

– Thank you for the interview.