The RAI in Amsterdam will host the first Devworld conference on 29 February and 1 March. With 7,500 visitors from 96 countries and experts and speakers from major tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Meta, TomTom, Amazon and Booking.com, it is already the largest conference for software designers ever organised in the Netherlands.
During the two-day event, software engineers and top people from tech companies learn all about the latest developments in their field. For example, about artificial intelligence (AI), designing websites, web shops, content management systems, databases and cloud technology. But also on issues such as privacy legislation, gender neutrality or recruitment. During the conference, 150 software engineering experts, authors of leading programming languages, founders of well-known companies and tech tools and teams from the world's major tech and software companies, will give presentations, sessions and master classes on them.
Organisers Jos Gerards and Luke Thomas started organising conferences on Javascript programming language in 2018 under the name JSWorld. These attracted over a thousand visitors from all over the world to Theatre Amsterdam every year. ,,We got more and more requests to expand the conference to include other programming languages and other niches such as AI. That's how the idea for Devworld was born," Gerards explains. For this, he found a larger event location in the RAI, where the third day of JSWorld will also take place during the second day of Devworld.
Amsterdam ranks as the fourth best location city in the world for tech companies and start-ups, according to several surveys. After New York, San Francisco and London. According to Gerards, that status is confirmed by the enormous enthusiasm for the conference, both from visitors, speakers and major tech companies that partner. The 7,500 visitors are from 3,500 companies from all over the world. ,,That makes it quite unique. There has never been such a large conference in this field in the Netherlands before," he says.
Gerards calls Devworld the 'Disneyland for developers'. Not only because of all the high-tech experts and companies attending, but also because of the fringe programme. These include a Devworld cinema with Star Trek movies, a Free Running laser game with augmented reality (AR), 3D printing workshops, an F1 Racing game, retro Arcade video games and a chess tournament. ,,It is primarily about knowledge sharing. Visitors come to learn, but we also want them to have a good time," he says.
