Last Thursday, 20 June, we had the pleasure of visiting Open Expo Europe Madrid 2019, one of the biggest European-wide conferences and technology fairs about technological innovation. The event brought together more than 3,500 figures in the sector, and in this article we tell you about our experience.

Open Expo took place in “La Nave”, Madrid, a large complex with a total of 6 conference rooms in addition to the IBM auditorium where some of the most notable talks and presentations were held due to its larger size and more powerful sound. The rest of the events took place in the main area of La Nave where all the company stands and Open Talks were found, in addition to the various leisure activities related to new technologies, which we were able to enjoy first-hand, like Open Live Labs and the areas focussed on e-Sports. Lastly, the conference had a VIP area belonging to the Prestashop company and a common area devoted to refreshment for the visitors with Food Trucks and areas to share tables.

Once our accreditation was received, we were able to go to the main hall were the wide range of participating companies offered exhibits that dealt with all kinds of innovation related to new technologies, such as the field of 3D printing. In this area the niche devoted to Open Talks especially stood out, two areas set up where companies could organise talks open to attendees without the need for an auditorium or enclosed space. As part of the programme we were able to attend presentations like that of Tomas Pariente on Benchmarking techniques in companies or of David Carabantes on Technological Innovation and Sustainable Development.

We also had access to the presentations held in the conference rooms and the IBM Auditorium, well-equipped exhibition spaces which enabled speakers to give their talks with audiovisual support and excellent sound capabilities. The IBM Auditorium, being the largest, hosted some of the most important talks, such as that given by Sara Alvarellos, Mónica Rivas, Tomasa Rodrigo and Roya Chang, leading women in the digital sector, or that of Chema Alonso on cybersecurity and the Rubber Hose attacks.