Top 10 Tech Conferences for the First Half of 2020

The Next Web Conference, or TNW, is a leading and highly anticipated tech festival. The conference, which runs between 18-19 June in Amsterdam, brings together international executives and experts from the technology landscape. Attendees also include promising startups and top-tier investors.  For the past 12 editions, TNW has stood out as one of the most exciting tech conferences in the world, hosting 15,000 attendees and more than 3,500 companies from across the globe. Confirmed speakers for 2020 include CEO and Founder of Drift, David Cancel, Ben Hammersley of Wired, and Senior Principal Research for Microsoft Research, Mary Gray.

Led by the Digital World Congress, the Digital Enterprise Show is the globe’s must-see event on digital transformation, showcasing some of the most impressive cutting-edge technology in the landscape. Running between 19-21 May in Madrid, Spain, DES covers topics from cloud technology to cybersecurity, big data, blockchain, and automation.  In 2019, the event was home to more than 300 of the top tech companies around the world. More than 20,000 people attended, and there were sessions for everyone, including those on CRM, social media, digital trust, and user experience. 

IBM Think is the global flagship conference delivered by IBM. This is also one of the premium conferences in the industry for cloud, AI, security, and IT solutions. Designed to support and inspire anyone who is interested in transforming industries and designing better solutions for innovation, IBM Think will appeal to designers, developers, security experts, and architects around the world. The conference includes appearances from top keynote speakers, as well as delivering more than 200 sessions to explore. You’ll also have chances to network with people specialising in everything from cloud computing to IoT.  This event takes place from 4-7 May. In 2019, some of the leading experts to speak at the conference included the CEO and President of IBM, Ginni Rometty, as well as SVP of Cognitive Solutions, Dr John E Kelly III. 

The Dublin Tech Summit is another must-attend event, taking place between 22-23 April. The summit brings together some of the top global leaders in tech, business growth, and innovation. In its first year, the event drew more than 10,000 attendees. In turn, it became one of the biggest new conferences on the market.  There are numerous sessions to attend at the conference, with highlights including sessions on the Internet of Things, big data, innovation, FinTech, cloud computing, AI, and cybersecurity. Typically, more than 250 expert speakers will take part in the event. Past attendees have included Chief Decision Scientist at Google, Cassie Kozyrkov, CTO at NASA, Douglas Terrier, and Co-Founder of Ethereum, Mihai Alisie.

Google Cloud Next is another leading annual conference, hosted with a focus on a specific brand. This is the must-see conference for businesses and tech professionals that want to hear more about new and updated cloud services in the digital landscape. Google Cloud Next is packed with more than 200 sessions to explore, as well as endless speakers to listen to.  Hosted in San Francisco between the 6-8 April, the event will explore themes like service scale, machine learning, and cloud migration. In 2019, keynote speakers included Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud. 

The Adobe Summit is a conference hosted specifically by a leading technology brand. Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, between 29 March-2 April, the conference will give attendees valuable insights into tools that will help them optimise their use of the Adobe marketing cloud.  The Adobe Summit is particularly impressive thanks to its incredible selection of keynote speakers. This year, featured speakers will include the CEO at Microsoft, Satya Nadella, CIO at Intuit, Atticus Tusen, and the CEO at Adobe, Shantanu Narayen. 

Across the globe, Gartner is well-known for being one of the leading research and advisory companies in the world. Every year, companies tune into Gartner to learn more about various industries through the Magic Quadrant reports and surveys. On 16-17 March, in Phoenix, Arizona, Gartner hosts its Digital Workplace Summit, where attendees can hear about some of the latest trends and predictions affecting the future of work.  Every year covers new topics and ideas. In 2020, the conference will include educational tracks on how companies can plan and manage digital workplace programs and drive innovation with new applications. There will also be insights into employee experience strategies and how brands can shape the future workplace. 

Share is a unique event, hand-crafted by dedicated technology lovers around the world. The full conference lasts for five days, between 23-28 February. Located in Fort Worth, Texas, Share brings professionals together to expand their knowledge, learn new skills, and discover innovations based on the values of education, networking, and influence.  In 2019, Share featured more than 500 technical sessions. In particular, they covered key areas like pervasive encryption, cloud technology, API economies, data piracy, and more. 

Oracle Openworld is a leading annual convention taking place in London, UK. The yearly conference is designed and managed by Oracle, offering a place for IT management, business decision makers, and end users to discover new technology and ideas.  Taking place from 12-13 February, the event covers everything from supply chain management solutions, to cloud technology, big data, and business analytics. You’ll also get insight into Oracle’s latest strategies for artificial intelligence (AI) and business agility. In the past, key speakers have included Oracle's CTO Larry Ellison and CEO at Infosys, Dr Vishal Sikka.

This year, IoT Tech Expo Global will return for its fifth annual event. Hosted in Olympia London on 17-18 March, the world-leading IoT conference will attract around 9,000 attendees. In particular, the event will bring together key industries to discuss IoT, 5G, cybersecurity, big data, and more. More than 300 exhibitors will be in attendance to showcase their cutting-edge technologies. As well as this, over 500 speakers will take to the stage to share their expertise and experiences.