[ad_1]
Web Summit 2020 will not have face-to-face events in Lisbon. After dialoguing with the Government, the organization decided to reverse the idea of having part of the event online and part with physical participation, because it is “the best for Portugal”. Between December 2 and 4, the event will be 100% digital this year.
“Lisbon continues to host the Web Summit, but with the increase in infections and COVID-19 outbreaks in Europe, we have to think about what is best for the Portuguese and our participants. The safest and most reasonable way to repeat the Web Summit is to do it completely online in 2020 ”, sums up Paddy Cosgrave, founder of the technology conference, which this year will have its fifth edition since he moved from Dublin to the Portuguese capital.
It was in June that the news emerged that the organization would evaluate the possibility of deploying the 2020 edition in online programming and a component with a physical audience. However, four months later, the evaluation that had been promised for October is carried out. And after the totally online experience of Collision at Home (a conference of this type that is held annually in Canada and this time had a 100% online edition), the decision is that the invited speakers and the audience of the Web Summit will be exclusively on the platform. developed by the company for this type of event.
The summit, which usually takes place in November, will have a minor impact on Lisbon tourism. In 2019, the 100,000 participants made 55,000 purchases during the summit, according to SIBS data, with foreigners responsible for more than 72% of payments.
The organization will offer 50,000 entries to the online summit to the university community, including recent graduates interested in working at a Portuguese startup or opening their own.
Jane Goodall is one of the names proposed by the organization for this totally online edition of the Web Summit
Agustin Marcarian / Reuters (file)
In this fifth edition, the organization will create a new channel and will dedicate it exclusively to Portugal. The technological and scientific communities of the country will also pass there, in addition to promoting the country as a tourist, cultural, historical and investment opportunity destination, the statement released today reads.
800 guest speakers are confirmed, people as diverse as the scientist Jane Goodall, founder of the Zoom platform, Eric Yuan, the director of technology of Facebook, Mike Schroepfer, and the actor Chris Evans, who embodies the character of Captain America in the cinema . .
Actor Chris Evans is another name confirmed by the organization of the Web Summit
Mario Anzuoni / Reuters (file)
In addition, there are 500 companies on the list of participants. The organization expects to establish up to 10,000 video interactions during the three days of the conference.
