DevTalks Romania launched last week the first edition in online format, DevTalks Reimagined. Between 10-12 of June, over 6,000 participants took part in 100 live sessions of technical presentations given by speakers from around the world, but also in competitions and areas of interaction organized together with over 20 top IT companies in Romania and 26 start-ups, thus becoming the first technology event of such magnitude organized in the online environment in Romania.  

For 3 days, the event transposed the physical edition into a complex virtual experience offered by the exhibition area and the agenda that supported 5 scenes in parallel each day. Thus, participants were able to watch presentation sessions on current topics such as artificial intelligence, machine learning or robotics, but also technical topics dedicated to professionals such as Java, DevOps, Big Data, Cloud, Security, Web, Mobile, Embedded Software, Quality Assurance & Testing and more. In addition, speakers on the agenda included professionals from Google, Bloomberg LP, Microsoft, IBM Watson, Amazon Web Services, Bolt, Pipedrive and many others. 

At this edition, the Main Partner of the event was ING Bank Romania which was present in all 3 days of the event on the agenda with presentations by Răzvan Sighinaș, CIO ING Bank Romania, Delia Albu, IT Lead ING Bank Romania and Bogdan Vizureanu, Chapter Lead ING Bank Romania who talked about the most important digital projects of the bank in this period. In addition, for DevTalks Reimagined, ING Bank created a unique virtual experience, with participants enjoying a 3D exhibition stand, and 640 of them joined the virtual escape room created especially for the event. 

First impressions of the event include:

“We are glad to see that we are the promoters of virtual events dedicated to the IT community and that we piloted the first online event of such magnitude, positioning ourselves as the largest expo-conference dedicated to technology enthusiasts. For the interaction during the event we developed together with our partners new mechanisms, from the gaming area, to quizzes, video interaction option or live discussions at the companies’ stands. All these tools worked because, finally, in the 3 days of the event, we registered on the platform 6,000 participants, 14,224 chat messages and 3,000 entries of contest participants. ” – Dragoș Gheban, Managing Partner Catalyst Solutions 

“ING Bank Romania has a 6-year tradition in participating in DevTalks, and this year it became the main partner in the first edition in a virtual format, not by chance, as it fully coincides with the digital vision of the bank. We organized a digital stand, we had a virtual escape room attended by over 600 people who tested their agility and logical thinking, we had a webinar with over 100 participants, and our colleagues from the IT and recruitment teams had was permanently at the stand, ready to answer questions. We strived to provide participants with a memorable virtual experience and we wanted them to be able to build a clear picture of all that ING means. We hope that all the information that we, ING Bank, and all the other guests presented, will be an inspiration and a catalyst for this year’s participants. ” – Răzvan Sighinaș, CIO ING Bank Romania 

“I am lucky to be one of the participants in the DevTalks special edition. I say special because everything I could do in the physical edition is now happening virtually, directly in front of the laptop. The general feeling I experienced during the event is a pleasant one. DevTalks has managed to reinvent itself in such a short time. Given the current global context, participants no longer had expectations from events, and DevTalks was able to show us that the future is here. I look forward to future DevTalks experiences. ” – Alexandru Ionescu, DevTalks Reimagined participant 

The area dedicated to Women in Technology powered by Betfair Romania Development offered participants 6 webinars, and over 700 participants took part in sessions held by women in technology who discussed challenges and career opportunities, but also tools that women passionate about IT and not only can I use them to develop personally and professionally.  

The Networking Area was powered by IRON sheep TECH, and along with the participants was co-founder Barry O’Moore who talked about what it means to be an entrepreneur for a technology start-up, but also what decisions and challenges he encountered in developing his business.  

Startups Area was not absent from this edition either: 26 technology start-ups were present in the exhibition area, and on June 12, Mădălina Burci, Chief Developer Growth TypingDNA, Grig Duță, Business Development Manager Bunnyshell and Răzvan Bretoiu, CTO Notifier, were present at a session on the Main Stage to talk about their journey and development steps for the next period.  

Tech Edu Area powered by Logiscool was an opportunity for parents who wanted to introduce their children to the world of technology. Thus, based on a pre-registration form, 135 participants brought children aged 7-10 years and 11-14 years in the virtual space specially created for them, where for 3 days they could access 6 workshops on notions basic in programming, digital content, game programming and more. 

Thus, the organizers and partners of this edition created together a virtual space that did not lack the interaction and diversity of activities throughout the 3 days. DevTalks Reimagined included contests, questionnaires and treasure hunt activities, and the challenges launched by the companies brought participants from the most diverse prizes and so the winners were able to enjoy vouchers on Amazon, Udemy courses and access to the Pluralsight platform, gadget- such as Xbox, Apple HomePod, drones and VR glasses and more.  

This year’s DevTalks Reimagined experience was realized with the support of partners: ING Bank, as Main Partner. Also present as Stage Partners were Asseco, Crowdstrike, London Stock Exchange Group Romania, Luxoft, METRO SYSTEMS Romania, Playtika, Raiffeisen Bank, Societe Generale European Business Services, Vodafone Romania and Ubisoft. Gold Partners at this edition were eMAG, Endava and EA Romania, and as Silver Partners participated: EveryMatrix, Finastra, Siemens Industry Software and Systematic. 

More information about the event, but also future projects can be accessed on www.devtalks.ro and on the Facebook page DevTalks Romania or at the email address contact@devtalks.ro.