Along with the announcement of the Start-up Day, today it was officially announced that the second global technology, start-up, policy making and lifestyle festival Digital Freedom Festival is broadening its scope, hosting more than 100 inspirational speakers from all over the world on 6 stages, while the total number of participants will be close to 1300. During the conference, which will take place this year on 27–28 November in Riga, technology and start-up entrepreneurs, experts, policymakers, and investors will participate in discussions on how society can make the best use of rapid technological development.
Dagnija Lejiņa, Co-founder of the Digital Freedom Festival: “The festival continues to grow rapidly, and our vision is still to turn Riga into a “Technology Davos” and to give our country, for its centenary, a present in the form of the most powerful festival in the region. This year, we will offer an ambitious programme in tune with global trends suitable for both start-up entrepreneurs and investors and corporations. As technologies know no borders, in the framework of the festival we will also start to develop a link between start-ups and the Latvian diaspora, to jointly do great things in the future.”
This year the main topics of the festival will be smart cities and cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, green technologies, FinTech and digital detox.
Arvils Ašeradens, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy: “The major investments made by the policymakers and the community in the development of start-ups are earmarked for the marketing of a start-up ecosystem. The Digital Freedom Festival is an outstanding event, attracting international attention to the Latvian start-up environment and available support instruments, thus promoting Latvia as a place that is attractive for start-ups. The festival can also serve as a good motivation to change our way of thinking and behaviour by raising issues that are critical for the global innovation and technology world. I am delighted that the action line suggested by the Ministry of Economy, i. e. cooperation between start-ups and large corporations, is included in the programme of the festival. Investments in innovation and technologies made by entrepreneurs are vital during transition to a modern economy, and synergies between start-ups and corporations may make this process faster, more efficient and simpler.”
During the festival, several Start-up Pitch competitions will take place in cooperation with the world number one accelerator 500 Startups, the international union of entrepreneurs, investors and mentors “Rockstart” and the association “Latvian Business Angels Network” (LatBAN).
Strengthening synergies between start-ups and corporations
Juris Gulbis, Chairman of the Board of “Lattelecom”: “For the second consecutive year, in the framework of the Digital Freedom Festival, we will discuss the topic “Suits meet Hoodies” thus emphasizing the importance of cooperation between corporations and start-ups. On the Lattelecom Open Stage experts will share their experience introducing innovation into business, while on the main stage we will dwell on the latest trends in the field of artificial intelligence. We would like to start a new tradition today and celebrate the 12th of September as a Start-up Day in Latvia. We believe that other enterprises and state representatives will also join this initiative.”
Discussions on the development of financial technologies will take place in cooperation with “Norvik Banka”
Oliver Bramwell, Chairman of the Board of “Norvik Banka”: “We are pleased to continue our mutual cooperation that started last year with an aim to jointly raise awareness of financial technologies and development of innovation in the region. This year the contents of the festival will be further enriched by discussions and work sessions taking place before and after the festival days. Norvik Investor’s Lounge, that is set to take place during the main days of the festival, will bring together interested parties wishing to attend lectures and discussions and will also serve as a meeting place for entrepreneurs, investors, start-up representatives and policymakers.”
In the end of September, the Digital Freedom Festival and “Norvik Banka” will organize a discussion “The Future of Money”, while in October a discussion on the topic “Money and Cybersecurity” will take place.
Further information:
Inga Tauriņa,
Spokesperson of the Digital Freedom Festival
Phone: +371 26564629
E-mail: inga@dffestival.com
www.digitalfreedomfestival.com
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About the Digital Freedom Festival
The Digital Freedom Festival is a global technology, startup, policy and lifestyle festival, gathering 1300 new technology and startup entrepreneurs, experts, policy makers, investors, journalists and speakers from all over the world in Riga from the 27th to the 28th of November. We encourage discussion amongst all stakeholders on how technologies can truly “make the world a better place”, and to bring the benefits of the digital revolution to every member of society.
The conference is organised by the Digital Freedom Festival team as well as the reputation management company Lejiņa & Šleiers and NGO DFF. The Digital Freedom Festival supporters: Strategic Partner - Lattelecom, Official Bank - Norvik Banka, Pitch Competition Partner - 500 Startups, European Commission, Ministry of Economics of Latvia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, airBaltic, PINS, Latvia 100 Office, Association of Latvian Commercial Banks, Latvian Business Angel Network (LatBAN), Rockstart Accelerator, Latvian Startup Association, SAMSUNG, NATO StratCOM, Embassy of Israel to Latvia, U.S. Embassy Riga, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Latvia, Slush, Mailigen, Printful, Coffee Pixels, S/B PRO Startup Studio, LETA, Diena, CoFounder and others.
Two-day festival tickets are available for purchase at www.digitalfreedomfestival.com.
You are welcome to follow the latest Digital Freedom Festival news via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts (#DFFestival).