The major tech events affected by the spread of coronavirus
- 16 March, 2020 09:28
COVID-19, otherwise known as novel coronavirus, has affected an increasing number of technology events around the world, causing cancellation, rescheduling and virtualisation. Here’s a list of all the events that have been impacted so far this year.
Microsoft doubles Ignite with extra event
Microsoft has changed its week-long in person Ignite event to two 48-hour virtual sessions for free.
The first Ignite event is scheduled for 22 to 24 September, with registration opening earlier in the month on 3 September.
The additional Ignite is slated for early 2021 and will aim to create another opportunity for Microsoft to announce product updates and get in touch with its community, according to the company.
Chris Capossela, executive VP and chief marketing officer, wrote in a blog post that the tech giant learned from previous global digital events that they could provide another chance to bring its global community together in order “to create a truly worldwide event”.
AWS re:Invent 2020 reinvents itself as a free virtual event
Amazon Web Services (AWS)’ re:Invent conference for 2020 has made the move to go from a paid in-person conference to a free virtual event.
According to an AWS spokesperson, the conference will span three weeks from 30 November and 18 December, with yet-to-be revealed keynotes, launches and sessions on offer.
Registration for the event is currently not open and more information is set to be made available “in the coming weeks”, according to the spokesperson.
Originally, re:Invent 2020 was to be held from 30 November to 4 December in Las Vegas.
RSA conference APJ event goes free and virtual
The Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) edition of this year’s RSA cyber security conference will be run in mid-July as a free virtual online event, a move prompted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
This is the eighth year the information security industry conference has been run in the APJ region, with the event now set to run from July 15 to July 17, during Singapore business hours.
“The health and safety of our attendees is of primary importance, and offering RSA conference 2020 APJ as a virtual learning experience this year was a decision we made to help ensure the cybersecurity community stays connected with access to a platform for continual learning and exchanging of best practices during this time of social distancing,” RSA Conference senior director and general manager Linda Gray said.
It is planned that the new version of the annual event will deliver three full days of free virtual learning experiences with some of the cyber security industry’s leading figures, along with speaker-led sessions and keynotes to interactive, hands-on learning breakouts and networking time with peers and experts.
Coronavirus cancels Computex 2020, Taiwan's PC showcase
While the coronavirus has caused many trade shows to close or go virtual, Computex, Taiwan’s celebration of everything about the PC, had so far remained open—though rescheduled for September. Early Friday, that domino finally fell, too.
TAITRA, the Taiwan organisation overseeing the Computex Taipei show, said Friday that Computex has been rescheduled to June 1-5, 2021.
TAITRA originally delayed the showcase from its usual June to September, betting the coronavirus would have been managed by then. Taiwan itself acted quickly, implementing quarantine procedures, masking, and contact tracing, and limiting the impact to just 443 confirmed cases.
But the organisation also said that travel restrictions would limit the number of attendees, including international exhibitors, visitors and media, who “may not be able to join the show.”
Google Cloud Next ‘20 stretches out into nine-week digital event series
Google Cloud has confirmed that its Next ‘20 event will kick off on 14 July as a nine-week digital event series that will cover a variety of themes, including infrastructure, security, data analytics and more.
The digital event series is designed to offer fresh content each week from July until 9 September, with over 200 sessions ranging from keynotes from industry luminaries to advanced learning opportunities with top Google developers.
“Next OnAir will include interactive developer and learning programs such as Study Jams, Cloud Hero, and free one-month access to our curated learning paths on Qwiklabs and Pluralsight to help you prepare for certification,” Google Cloud chief marketing officer Alison Wagonfeld Wagonfeld said in a blog post.
Attendees who were previously registered for Next ’20 will be automatically registered for Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir. Otherwise, registrations are open to anyone else who wants to attend the free event.
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Microsoft, Apple open virtual dev conferences to all
Microsoft and Apple have both opened their annual developer conferences to all and will not charge admission for the virtual events.
Microsoft will host its Build confab May 19-21 and Apple will start its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 22. Apple did not say how long WWDC will run, but historically the conference has gone from Monday to Friday. June 22 is the second-to-last Monday of the month.
Previously, the companies had announced the cancellations of their usual physical events and replacement by all-digital versions. Both firms cited the ongoing pandemic as the reasons for their moves.
Digital-only Microsoft Inspire now free to attend
Microsoft has waived registration fees for Inspire 2020 as the world’s largest channel conference goes digital-only from July 21-22.
With registration set to open in June, there will now be no cost to attend for partners following cancellation of the in-person event, which was originally scheduled to house 18,000 attendees in Las Vegas. Pre-Covid-19, registration prices started at US$2,295, rising to $2,595 after three weeks of early-bird sign-ups.
According to Gavriella Schuster - corporate vice president of One Commercial Partner at Microsoft - the digital-only conference will be “absolutely free” for partners across the world.
All of Facebook’s physical events cancelled up until June 2021
Facebook has moved to cancel physical events with 50 or more people up until June 2021.
Announced by Mark Zuckerberg on a Facebook post, the decision was made after receiving guidance by experts “that it won't be advisable to have large groups of people get together for a while”.
“Given this, we're canceling any large physical events we had planned with 50 or more people through June 2021,” Zuckerberg said.
He added that some of these events will be replaced by virtual versions.
Previously, Facebook made the move to cancel its annual F8 developer conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.
VMworld 2020 goes virtual amid coronavirus pandemic
VMware’s VMworld 2020 event has been postponed and digitised due to the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The digital-only event will be held during the week of 28 September, pushing it back from the US iteration’s 30 August to 3 September time frame. The European iteration of the event, originally scheduled for 9-12 November in Barcelona, has been cancelled.
The event will be open to a global audience and will include information on new technology, VMware executives sharing their perspectives, educational and technical content as well as opportunities to engage with experts.
AWS reveals Summit Online Australia and New Zealand for May
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has revealed the digital version of its Summit conference for Australia and New Zealand, scheduled for 13 May.
This will be the first time an AWS Summit Online conference has been held for Australia and New Zealand.
The event is free to attend and will feature Amazon’s chief technology officer, Werner Vogels, as a keynote speaker.
The physical Sydney version of the conference, originally scheduled for 31 March to 2 April at Sydney’s International Convention Centre, was cancelled after “careful review of the current situation with COVID-19”.
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Google cans I/O 2020 conference outright
Google has decided to axe its annual I/O developer conference entirely, taking a virtual version off the table.
However, citing health and safety concerns for developers, employees and local communities, in addition to “shelter in place” orders by the local Bay Area counties, the decision was made to not run the conference in any capacity.
“Right now, the most important thing all of us can do is focus our attention on helping people with the new challenges we all face,” a statement from Google noted.
“Please know that we remain committed to finding other ways to share platform updates with you through our developer blogs and community forums.”
Guests who registered for I/O 2020 will receive an invitation to the conference in 2021.
The I/O 2020 conference was originally going to be held on 12-14 May.
Google cancels virtual Next ’20: Digital Connect event
Google has cancelled its Google Cloud Next ’20: Digital Connect event, which was to take the place of its physical ‘Next 20 event.
Alison Wagonfeld, chief marketing officer at Google Cloud, said that while the Next ’20: Digital Connect event will go ahead, firm dates have not yet been set.
“Please know that we are fully committed to bringing Google Cloud Next ‘20: Digital Connect to life, but will hold the event when the timing is right. We will share the new date when we have a better sense of the evolving situation,” Wagonfeld said.
The virtual event was originally scheduled for 6-8 April 2020, the same dates as the physical version.
Westcon-Comstor takes Imagine 2020 event virtual
As tech events are cancelled worldwide and locally, distributor Westcon-Comstor NZ is making its annual Imagine showcase virtual.
"As a result, we have spent some time assessing Imagine, and the safety of those attending, accounting for the policies that have been developed to help limit the spread of the virus, from both our company and those of our partners," the company said today.
"After thorough consideration and discussion, we have decided to change Imagine 2020 from a physical event, to a virtual event, fully embracing the technology we advocate."
The new event will be delivered via Cisco Webex Events on the same day as the original event – 14 May. Content will now be delivered as webinars as part of a one-day virtual event.
Apple to hold WWDC 2020 online due to coronavirus pandemic
Apple isn’t cancelling its annual Worldwide Developers Conference this year, but it is changing the format.
According to a statement, Apple will hold WWDC 2020 entirely online in order to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the statement, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller referred to the pandemic as the “current health situation.”
Schiller also said Apple aimed to create a “new WWDC 2020 format that delivers a full program with an online keynote and sessions, offering a great learning experience for our entire developer community, all around the world.”
IT Professionals NZ postpones ITx conference
IT Professionals NZ chief executive Paul Matthews announced in a blog-post that IT Professionals NZ's keynote ITx 2020 conference had been delayed by six to eight months to mid 2021 in light of the spreading Covid-19 coronavirus,
"This decision wasn't made lightly, however the mix of health and safety concerns, combined with general anxiety in relation to attendance at larger conferences and the decision taken by many businesses and individuals to not travel or attend large events has meant we believe this is the only prudent option," Matthews wrote.
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Coronavirus turns Dell Technologies World 2020 virtual
Dell Technologies World 2020 will run as a virtual event in response to rising coronavirus concerns across local, regional and global markets.
Set for 4-7 May in Las Vegas, the flagship conference plays host to industry executives from Dell Technologies and VMware, in addition to customers and channel partners from around the world.
“Because nothing is more important than the health and safety of our team members, customers, partners and suppliers, we have decided to make Dell Technologies World 2020 a virtual event,” a company statement read.
For customers and partners that booked a reservation at the Venetian or Palazzo as part of the Dell Technologies World room block, the vendor said such rooms will be automatically cancelled; "please do not contact the hotel directly. We will be following up with you shortly and will post more details here.”
SAP cancels all in-person March events
SAP has cancelled all of its in-person events in March 2020, opting instead to change some into “free and open digital experiences”.
This includes SAP Concur Fusion in Orlando, Florida from 9-12 March, SAP Ariba Live in Las Vegas, Nevada from 16-18 March and SAP NOW events that were set for March.
The SAP NOW events affected include the ones scheduled for Colombia, Switzerland, Guatemala, Sweden, Argentina, Ecuador, Germany, Norway and Uruguay.
SAP Concur Fusion and SAP Ariba Live will instead be conducted as “free and digital experiences” according to a statement on SAP, running on the same dates as their cancelled physical counterparts.
Data#3 cancels JuiceIT events
Data#3 has cancelled its series of JuiceIT events for March, following close monitoring of COVID-19.
Originally scheduled for 11, 19 and 24 March in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, respectively, Laurence Baynham, CEO and managing director of Data#3, said the decision to cancel was “very difficult”.
“Our number one priority is ensuring the safety of our customers, partners, employees and the wider community. We believe this is the right decision given the current circumstances,” he said.
In a statement, Data#3 said the company is looking to run JuiceIT events in the future but was not able to provide dates at this time.
Ingram Micro cancels Showcase 2020
This year’s Ingram Micro Showcase has been cancelled as a precautionary measure amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, with the distributor looking at “alternative options” it can take once the crisis has subsided.
In a message to partners, Ingram Micro New Zealand managing director Jason Langley said that the decision was made in the face of an increasing number of corporate and governmental travel bans arising from efforts to minimise the spread of COVID-19, and an increasing number of events being cancelled.
COVID-19 concerns push Ingram Micro Cloud Summit to 2021
Ingram Micro has pushed its 2020 Cloud Summit conference to 2021, citing the COVID-19 coronavirus as the reason behind the move.
Originally scheduled for 12 to 14 May 2020, the company put out a statement saying “the health and well-being of all attendees and exhibitors is the company’s top priority.”
While no further details were given about the new dates, the summit is expected to stay in Miami, with Ingram Micro Cloud claiming to be “committed” to the location.
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Google cancels I/O developer conference amid coronavirus concerns
Alphabet Inc said on Tuesday it has canceled its annual developer event, Google I/O, amid concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak.
The event was to take place between May 12 and May 14.
"Over the coming weeks, we will explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with and continue to build our developer community," the company said in a statement.
AWS cancels Sydney Summit due to COVID-19
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has cancelled its upcoming Sydney conference amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Amazon announced the decision to cull its AWS Summit Sydney and Amazon Innovation Day 2020 after “careful review of the current situation with COVID-19”.
The event was due to take place between March 31 and April 2 at Sydney’s International Convention Centre.
Google Cloud Next goes online only amid coronavirus outbreak
This year’s edition of Google Cloud’s annual partner and customer event, Google Next ‘20, is the latest major tech conference to be hit by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, with the event being switched to an entirely digital affair.
Alison Wagonfeld, Google Cloud chief marketing officer, said due to the coronavirus, the cloud arm of the tech giant has “reimagined” the event to Google Cloud Next ’20: Digital Connect, a free, global, digital-first, multi-day event connecting attendees to Next ’20 content and each other through streamed keynotes, breakout sessions, interactive learning and digital “ask an expert” sessions with Google teams.
The event is still expected to run from 6-8 April.
Coronavirus postpones Oracle OpenWorld Asia in Singapore
Oracle has postponed OpenWorld Asia due to ongoing coronavirus concerns in Singapore and the wider ASEAN region, joining a host of cancelled technology conferences.
The technology giant didn’t specify when the event would be rescheduled, advising customers and channel partners to check the official website for updates.
Coronavirus cancels HP Reinvent, World Partner Forum
HP Reinvent is the latest channel conference to be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, with the technology giant postponing its annual partner event until the second half of 2020.
Originally set for 24 March in Anaheim, California, Reinvent traditionally combines the delivery of HP, customer and partner strategies during a three-day event, in addition to the running of World Partner Forum.
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Facebook cancels developer conference over coronavirus fears
Facebook has said it will cancel its annual developer conference due to fears over the coronavirus, as growing concerns about the economic impact of the global outbreak drove Wall Street to tumble for a sixth straight day.
Facebook's F8 conference, which attracted 5,000 people from around the world last year, was scheduled to be held May 5 and 6 in San Jose, California.
Instead of the F8 event, the company will organise "a combo of locally hosted events, videos and live streamed content."
Salesforce World Tour Sydney goes digital amid coronavirus fears
Salesforce has cancelled its physical regional World Tour event for Sydney due to coronavirus concerns and has replaced it with a “reimagined” version that will be streamed completely online.
A spokesperson for the company said the “evolving situation with the coronavirus outbreak” has caused Salesforce to essentially cancel the physical event.
Coronavirus cancels Cisco Live in Melbourne
Cisco has cancelled its flagship Cisco Live conference in Melbourne due to "ongoing concerns" about the coronavirus outbreak.
Set for 3-6 March, the vendor’s annual event in Asia Pacific plays host to around 8500 attendees from across the region, spanning channel partners, customers, distributors and alliance vendors.
Mobile World Congress, the world's biggest phone show, cancelled over coronavirus fears
This year’s iteration of the world’s biggest phone show, Mobile World Congress, has been cancelled, mere weeks before it was supposed to kick off in Barcelona, Spain, on February 24.
Before the cancellation, many of the show’s exhibitors withdrew over the past week due to coronavirus fears.
(With Reuters)
