One of Europe’s longest running (35 years!) and most impactful conferences is getting ready to kick-off this November 19th in Montpellier. The DigiWorld Summit is organized each year by iDATE, one of the world’s leading think tanks and research organizations focusing on telecoms, media and internet technology. Having focused on the theme ‘Game changers’ – Mobile-Cloud-Big Data at last year’s edition, this year iDATE have chosen to focus on 5 ‘Digital Gold Mines’ that they believe illustrate the potential in our sectors and economies for creating value and that represent key strategic areas in reconstructing value chains. These areas include: Smart connectivity, Video as a service, Digital malls, Data monetization, and Digital money.
In order for these strategic areas to realize their full potential, various stakeholders, including corporations, start-ups and PMEs, as well as government, will all have key roles to play in making that happen. As such, DigiWorld strives and succeeds in bringing out the top players that will play integral roles in some of the most revolutionary digital innovations. This year’s edition, for example, will include a big presence from the telco world with key players such as Orange, SFR, Verizon, and Deutsche Telecom, hardware manufacturers such as Huawei and Samsung, and networking services and connectivity giants such as Ericsson and Qualcomm. Of course understanding the social and economic effects of these fundamental technological shifts, particularly in light of the ongoing challenging economic environment, is an important part of the puzzle. As such, key figures from the public sphere such as Jacques Attali will be on-stage to offer their perspectives on the subject.
Once again this year, iDATE have also incorporated a sister conference in the mix, the Game Summit, which will run concurrently with DigiWorld. The first two days will focus on game design competitions, including the Ubisoft Game Challenge which will offer 150 students the opportunity to develop and present to a jury a prototype game and, for the first time in France, the Retro Game Challenge whereby gaming students and professionals will design a game with strong technical and creative constraints. Later in the week, participants will be able to participate in a range of mini-conferences and masterclasses which will center around a question that’s top-of-mind for many across the game sector “2014: Transition or Disruption?”.
Digiworld really is the type of conference that has something for everyone, so if you’d like to attend, we still have some 50% reduction privilege passes here.