Web Summit key trends and reveiw of our exhibiting experience

We recently had an opportunity to exhibit at Europe’s largest technology market place, Web Summit. The conference which attracted more than 53,000 delegates from 167 countries offered more than 1,000 companies with an opportunity to exhibit and pitch their business to potential new customers.

The 3-day conference which was hosted for the first time in Lisbon’s MEO Arena, provided delegates with an opportunity to hear from the most influential people within the digital sector.

Web Summit which is also renowned for its networking opportunities, organised numerous events ranging from cultural tours to the infamous night summit, whilst scattered throughout the conference venue encouraged communal dining.

However, the azimap team were on their best behaviour as we were exhibiting at booth A 235 during day two.

Our booth which was managed by David McQuillan (Managing Director) and Sean Cleary (Software Development Manager), was a hive of activity attracting the attention of delegates from multiple sectors including real-estate, financial, retail, public sector, automotive and gaming.

Throughout day two, we demonstrated Azimap to delegates from the United States, France, London, Italy and Ireland. Proving that the Web Summit is the worlds most influential tech event and that the interest in our web GIS truly is of a global scale.

When not at our booth, we had an opportunity to hear from the most influential people within the digital sector. The talks which took place across 9 stage’s focused on key topics such as future societies, SaaS, Content Marketing, Autotech and health, offered delegates with the opportunity to discover the key trends impacting their sectors yet plan their time to attend the talks which was most relevant to their business.

Having attended numerous talks throughout the three days, walked 43.5km, taken 64,302 steps and climbed 70 flights of stairs it was evident that the key topics of conversation cantered around –

• Data privacy
• Virtual reality
• The internet of things (IoT)
• The future of artificial intelligence (AI)
• Election results

Whilst, these talks were interesting and insightful, the discussion I remember quite vividly was between Salil Shetty from Amnesty International and Robert Scoble on the topic of “Is the benefits of technology worth sacrificing our privacy for”. During this discussion, Salil highlighted how Amnesty International use Sentinel data to deploy humanitarian aid and reinforced the fact that we’re living in a disconnected era and that society need to reconnect with real-life.

Our Web Summit experience in Lisbon, was a memorable one. There is no other conference in the world which offers delegates with the opportunity to introduce and pitch to a global audience, experience a new culture and network with the world’s most influential professionals.

Due to the success and opportunities which Web Summit 2016 has provided us, we look forward to returning to Lisbon in 2017 to what will be an even bigger Web Summit.