Part two of the success story: This was the Digital Festival 2017
At 5 p.m. on Sunday, the lights went out—the 2017 Digital Festival is now history. The question «What’s next?» was discussed in labs, keynotes, and sessions. But there was also plenty of opportunity for networking and getting to know one another.
More than 2800 visitors, makers, speakers, innovators and digital thought leaders from different generations have turned Zurich into the technology and innovation capital over the last few days. The keynote speech by Andrew Keen kicked off the event. The author led through a digital minefield with surveillance capitalism and Big Data. After this opening, the field was paved for the second Digital Festival in the Limmat City. Numerous other keynotes, labs and sessions provided insights into the digital issues of tomorrow.
Of course, it wasn't all talk. At the Virtual Reality Cinema, there was something to touch - but only virtually, of course. And at the first offline antivirus program, many cramped joints were stretched, stretched and relaxed at Holmes Place Zurich City at Jelmoli. There was experimentation and even meditation. Fortunately 100 percent real were the numerous speakers and thought leaders from the tech world. Contacts were exchanged and interesting conversations were held on numerous occasions.
Also in the second year of the Digital Festival, HackZurich was one of the highlights. Already in the application phase a new record was set: over 5000 applications from 65 countries in only two weeks. Of these, 550 specialists, programmers and developers were selected and developed around 150 innovative and creative prototypes. From self-driving vehicles to fight fake news, robotics to cyber security; the breadth and quality of the prototypes was remarkable. The winner was the HoloBrigade team from Karlsruhe. They developed a mobile application that displays data from sensors in houses to rescue teams using augmented reality.
There was also a premiere to celebrate. For the first time, the Digitalsymphony went over the stage and immediately became one of the highlights of the festival. The musicians of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, together with electro/techno composer Pantha du Prince and pianist Sebastian Knauer, created a completely new musical experience. In addition, there was a cross-divisional choreography for the eyes with breathtaking video 3D mapping technology. The visitors were thrilled by this unique and impressive experience and celebrated and danced afterwards.
The second edition of the Digital Festival 2017 was a complete success. The entire industry gathered in Zurich and the important questions of the future were hotly discussed.
After the festival is of course always before the festival. The organizers are already looking forward to the third edition in 2018 with a lot of enthusiasm and drive and are looking forward to welcoming everyone again in Zurich and for the first time also in French-speaking Switzerland.
The Digital Festival would like to thank strategic partner Swisscom, main partners Die Post, RAI Lab (Raiffeisen) and Randstad, as well as support partners Amag, KPMG, SIX, T-Systems and Valora, and media partner SRF. (pd)
