On September 14th and 15th, more than 100 international experts will participate in a new edition of ICT Spring, the renowned tech summit. The event, organised since 2010, will take place at the European Convention Center Luxembourg, at the very heart of Europe. ICT Spring will therefore be the first largest in-person event of the year. The organisers are announcing the various topics that will be discussed during the different summits, as well as the first experts who will share their knowledge and best practices, during what promises to be an exceptional edition.
This year, ICT Spring will be organised in the frame of the “Digital ICT Week”, powered by the Chamber of Commerce Luxembourg, and is labelled as the main event of the week, as well as the first largest in-person event of the year to take place in Luxembourg. It will notably allow the audience to participate in matchmaking and targeted networking sessions, through the use of the Swapcard application. As usual, ICT Spring will consist in an exhibition area and startups’ village and insightful summits to tackle trendy topics. Conferences will be broadcasted live from Luxembourg and will gather as many speakers as possible within the country, depending on health restrictions. Therefore, experts are welcomed to take part in ICT Spring both physically and digitally.
Fintech Summit
The combination of finance and technology has been discussed over the past decade, with Fintechs becoming key players and new trendsetters in the financial services industry. The first session, entitled “The Advent of a Cashless Society”, will focus on a myth that is about to become a reality: organisations are welcoming this new era and need to adapt their processes, by notably combining security, trust and transparency. Experts will then focus on “FundTech & Tokenization”: how will tokenization change the business and what are the latest technologies available for the funds industry to improve the customer experience?
On the second day, they will explore the “Digital Banking over the World” topic. As banks struggle to improve customer experiences, the quest for personalised digital interactions continues. Finally, the summit will end with a session called “Fintech to favour Financial Inclusion”, as, nowadays, financial data-driven intelligence facilitates inclusive finance.
Digital Summit
More than ever, digital plays an important role in our daily lives, whether it is on the professional side with the use of innovative tools or on the personal one with new apps and services. The first session, focusing on how to “Reconcile Tech & Education”, will feature experts who will share their knowledge around the latest tech trends with a whiff of education and gender diversity. Then, experts will focus on “Digital Supply Chain”, in order to understand the biggest challenges of the supply chain and logistics sector. What are the impacts of digital and data management? How does it improve the value chain? How the e-commerce can enable a fast and easy access to goods?
The day after, professionals will discuss “Digital Society” and how to shape the society of tomorrow through digital technology: building smarter cities, improving access to e-government, managing brands in a data-driven economy, etc. The session will end with a focus on “Digital Health”, with the use of new solutions to improve the healthcare industry and solutions linked to longevity.
Space Forum
Organised in parallel of ICT Spring since 2016, the Space Forum conference discusses the impact of space tech on Earth business such as mobility, IoT, connectivity, security, etc. The first morning session will be entitled “Powering Sustainable & Resilient Space Developments” and will focus on international cooperation and how science will contribute to build up a resilient ecosystem fueled with rapid technological developments. “Space Revival: Strengthening the Hi-Tech Ecosystem in Europe” will then be discussed: what are the new challenges that the space industry needs to take up? What is the position of Europe within the international framework: its assets and weaknesses? Can Europe be a key player? Finally, experts will share their “Views on the Most Promising Companies of the New Space” and will dive into the startup’s ecosystem of the Space industry while sharing the latest innovations of the market.
European Security Forum
A well-known side event of ICT Spring, European Security Forum will gather cybersecurity professionals to discuss the latest trends in a field that is evolving at a faster pace than ever, with the number of (sophisticated) cyberattacks constantly growing. The first session, “Data Security: everyone’s business” will focus on the crisis and how cybersecurity concerns have grown exponentially, with the creation of innovative tools. “AI threats and opportunities” will then be on the agenda as it has become essential to ensure the security of AI systems, and so will the “The era of Zero Trust”, with the recognition that “trust can be considered a vulnerability”. The topic “Post-quantum cryptography” will end the European Security Forum.
Mastermind Summit
This new summit aims at giving participants a view on “Strategic Acceleration EU and International Programs”, as well as funding available for startups. The session will consist in speeches to provide assistance to startups and to help them develop their networks and businesses. Experts will relate success stories, define the art of pitching, etc. Moreover, panel discussions with VCs will be organised, with professionals presenting the biggest trends they are currently following in the fields of Fintech, Deeptech, New Space, and more. This second session will be entitled “Startups Verticals”.
With the participation of Priscila Chaves (Tech Ethicist & Impact Entrepreneur) Sam Scimemi (Senior Assistant in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Former ISS Director, NASA), Jason Maude (Chief Technology Advocate, Starling Bank), Joakim Sjöblom (Co-founder and CEO, Minna Technologies), Tomas Martinkenas (Director of Privacy and Security, Vinted), Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck (Founding Director, Digital Leadership Institute), Morgan Wirtz (CEO & Co-founder, Upy) and Elia Montanari (Head of Management and Control, ESA).
Local experts Marc Hansen (Luxembourg Minister Delegate for Digitalisation), Jean-Jacques Dordain (Advisor, spaceresources.lu), Avanti Sharma (Pre-Teen Technology Specialist, Workshop4Me) and Carl-Friedrich zu Knyphausen (Director Logistics Development, Zalando) have also confirmed their participation to this year’s edition of ICT Spring.
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