EmTech to hold in-person conference in Belfast next month

European technology conference EmTech is to allow in-person attendees at its Belfast event next month, becoming the first in-person business conference held in the UK and Ireland since the pandemic began.

The event, which will take place on July 1st and 2nd, was originally intended to be a virtual event. However, the decision has been made to host 100 guests while also being streamed online to a guest audience of tech leaders from across Europe.

EmTech is MIT Technology Review’s flagship European conference, bringing together technology, business and culture, sharing research and discoveries.

Conference organisers Aisling Events have teamed up with Titanic Belfast to host the conference.

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“As our city begins to open up again, it is exciting to see events such as conferences return. We look forward to welcoming back audiences and to enjoying those real-life connections that are important to events like EmTech Europe,” said Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, director of Aisling Events.

“This opportunity has not happened overnight, and an enormous amount of work has gone in to ensure that the health and safety of all attendees is our main priority. We will be consistently monitoring the Covid-19 situation in the lead up to the conference in early July and will ensure all appropriate measures are in place so all involved are safe and comfortable at the event.”

All health and safety mitigations and risk assessments for the event will be in place, in line with government guidance and Titanic Belfast’s Covid policies.

Titanic Belfast reopened its visitor attraction last week with Covid safety measures in place. "We will apply the same level of care and attention to our conference and banqueting offering as we begin to rebuild this part of our business," said Siobhan Lynch, director of operations at Titanic Belfast.

Speakers

Among the headline speakers at EmTech are BioNTech cofounder Dr Ugur Sahin, who initiaited the development of the mRNA-based vaccine for Covid-19, known as Project Lightspeed. Cofounder of Moderna Kenneth Chien and Nuritas cofounder Dr Nora Khaldi are also due to speak at the event, along with Peter Rawlinson, chief executive of Lucid Motors, and Marga Hoek, author of the Trillion Dollar Shift.

The theme of this year’s conference is “forging a brighter future”, exploring a sustainable, intelligent, healthy and equitable future. EmTech will also be hosted by Belfast in 2022 and 2023.