Conference News: What I learned this week – June 14, 2019
Conference Captain Cosgrave Considers UAE: Web Summit’s CEO Paddy Cosgrave told Arabian Business earlier this week that he was considering building another global event – this time in the UAE. In the interview, Cosgrave noted that “The Middle East is massively in our future. Already at Web Summit, we have massive participation from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but also from Oman and Saudi Arabia, and the number of start-ups participating from the region has been growing year-on-year.” The conference will not likely debut until 2022 but would make a great addition to his current lineup of events, which includes Web Summit (Europe), Collision (North America) and RISE (Asia).
Decoding the Future: Trends forecaster Stylus Innovation has been producing events for several years, though until recently they specialized in the fashion and retail space. Today, they organize Decoded Future programs in London and NYC, but have evolved the focus to now cover cross industry learning for senior marketers, brand execs, and creatives. The event themes reflect this year’s shift and include, for example, the new rules of engagement (and the underlying tech), adapting to changing attitudes, and trends that used to be niche but are now mainstream. Decoded Future London was held last week, and while the NYC event isn’t until 18 October, its website should launch in early summer.
Speaking Opportunity: Since 2002, SecurityWeek’s Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Cyber Security Conference has covered the latest cyber-incidents, analyzes their causes and facilitates cooperation among 600+ ICS users, ICS vendors, system security providers and government representatives. This year’s event will be held at the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, Georgia, from 21 – 24 October 2019. As one of the largest and longest-running cyber security-focused event series for the industrial control systems sector, the conference organizers are again interested in programming a stellar agenda including technical information, actual incidents, insights, and best practices to help protect critical infrastructures from cyber-attacks. If you have a good story or anecdote to share, submit your idea following the guidelines offered here by 12 July.
Lunchtime Learning: Last month, the U.S. News Workforce of Tomorrow Summit gathered hundreds of leaders in industry, education, government and other sectors to share successful strategies for addressing many of the most pressing challenges related to improving education and workforce development. Check out the four keynote sessions here, which covered a range of topics, including preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, developing a diverse talent pool, innovating in education, and optimizing policies and partnerships.
Coming Up Next Week: The five-day festival and awards Cannes Lions gets underway Monday 17 June. Self-described as “where the world’s most creative people meet,” Cannes Lions is a top destination for marketers from all over the globe. At the Forbes Women’s Summit (17-18 June; New York), senior leaders and investors meet to untangle the ideas, technologies, and business models that are changing the world at unprecedented scale. Games for Change (G4C) runs 17-19 June in NYC. G4C is one of the predominant events in the industry geared toward “the power of games and immersive media for social good.” Launch Festival announced last year that, in lieu of a US event, the festival would be held down under in Sydney (17-19 June). Launch will return stateside in 2020. RSA Unplugged offers a region-specific, invitation-only program for security experts 20 June in Bangkok, which will run as part of Thailand Cybersecurity Week. And on 23 June, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Annual Conference and Expo will kick off in Philadelphia, connecting 16,000 movers and shakers in edtech.