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Aerospace industry worldwide is experiencing a renaissance, but unlike the space race years during the Cold War, now the innovations come not only from American and Russian government agencies, but also from emerging economies like India. Just yesterday the Asian country made history by successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission, surpassing the previous record of 37 satellites, launched by Russia 3 years ago. Experts say this is a sign that India is emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market, while the Prime Minister of the country Narendra Modi was among the first to congratulate the team behind the effort. He tweeted that this is another proud moment for the nation’s scientific community.

This remarkable feat by @isro is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 15, 2017

The main task of the launch was to get the Cartosat-2 Earth-observation satellite in orbit. It is expected to be used for monitoring of India's local rivals - Pakistan and China. The other 103 spacecraft were nanosatellites, provided by countries like Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. 88 of them are owned by the San Francisco company Planet (ex Planet Labs). Their dimensions are just 30 by 10 by 10 centimeters, while their weight is about 4.5 kilograms. Despite the small size, they have sharp vision and can observe the Earth surface with precision. During the last year’s Webit.Festival in Sofia the European Space Agency (ESA) engineer and coordinator Lluc Diaz spoke about the institution’s mutual work with startups, like Planet Labs. The expert explained the benefits from launching small communication satellites, that cost between $10 and $100 million, unlike the big ones for $500 million. The small devices are easier to maintain and can be replaced with new ones when they are hit by space junk for example. Last year 210 satellites weighing less than 50 kilograms were launched this year to do such things as map the Earth, expand broadband access and track packages on shipping vessels. Тhat is up from just 25 launches in 2010. The 2016 number is expected to double in the next five years. If you want to keep up with the hottest trends in the space industry Webit.Festival is the right place for you. During the event, you can find out more about the future of exploration of the Universe from top level speakers, likе the Chairman of Breakthrough Prize Foundation Simon P. Worden. The author of more than 150 scientific papers in astrophysics space sciences and strategic studies will talk about the search of life beyond the Earth and deep space traveling.

About a decade ago the Ray Kurzweil presented to the world his concept of the singularity, and from today’s point of view this utopian idea looks more real than ever. In his famous book The Singularity is Near, the inventor, futurist and Director of Engineering at Google wrote about the moment, when machine intelligence will surpass our own. Now the top entrepreneur and visionary Elon Musk is talking about this moment not as something bad, but as a next step in humankind evolution. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX told an audience at the World Government Summit in Dubai that over time we will probably see a closer merger of biological and digital intelligence. He explained that humans will need to merge with machines, so that they don’t become useless in an age when AI is widespread among every aspect of our lives. "Some high bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence and maybe solves the control problem and the usefulness problem”, Musk said. And while this kind of problems may seem too distant, the reality is that the are already a part of our lives. Just the last year a automated Tesla car crashed and killed its test driver. This was the first of its kind tragedy and opened series of ethical dilemmas. As the self-driving vehicles are going to be the most near term AI innovation that we are going to see, the regulators will have to answer important questions about the responsibility and ethics in this new kind of transportation. It is a question, first raised by the celebrated science-fiction author Isaac Asimov in his short story Runaround. The futurist revealed an early version of his laws, that states: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. The computer’s victory over a human Go master this past March reminded us of the coming singularity, while the respected Japanese magazine Shukan Shincho predicted that in 2045 a computer with the combined intellectual power of the entire human race would cost around $100. Although the development of artificial intelligence undoubtedly lead to risks, approaching a moment of singularity can bring unimaginable advances in medicine, economics, government and social spheres, while completely changing the way we live today. We can expect the merger of humans and machines to bring the next step of our civilization’s evolution and to finally make us interplanetary species - one of the biggest ambitions of Musk’s SpaceX. If you want to keep up with the hottest trends in the world of artificial intelligence Webit.Festival is the right place for you. During our summits, you can listen to top level speakers such as the Partner in IBM Ventures Christoph Auer-Welsbach and the VP & CTO of VMware for EMEA region Joe Baguley.

Amid the political turmoil in Europe, caused by the unprecedented influx of refugees from the MENA region and the election victory of Donald Trump in the United States, the issue of immigration quickly established itself as a major in today’s political life. And although most people in the developed world have their reasons to be worried about the migration and its effect on their country’s social system, on the political scene we see a clear conflict between the stated policies of governments and the interests of the industry, and especially the tech sector. Last week we saw that the tech companies in USA continued to rally against the new president’s immigration ban for the citizens of 7 countries with Muslim majority population. More than 100 firms in the sector voiced their opposition to Trump’s executive order, and among them were Apple, Facebook, Tesla, SpaceX, Airbnb, Twitter and Microsoft. Meanwhile Starbucks even announced that it will hire 10 000 refugees in 75 countries over the next 5 years. But what caused the strange connection between large technology corporations and the issue of migration? Quite simply, it’s the fact that vast majority of the directors of successful businesses in the US and around the world are either immigrants or descendants of those and feel committed to this issue. Among them we can mention the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk, who grew up in South Africa and studied in Canada, the Co-Founder of Google Sergey Brin, who was born in Moscow, the Аrmenian refugee descendant and founder of Reddit Alexis Ohanian, the Cuban immigrant descendant and Founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos and many others. In fact, the connection between being an immigrant and becoming an entrepreneur is well studied, even by Harvard. Last year the famous university published a report on the extensive cross-cultural experiences of top level business leaders and how it helps them take over the industry with out of the box decisions. According to the Harvard’s experts immigrants in USA are almost twice as likely to become entrepreneurs as native-born citizens of the country. Right now they represent 27.5% of the US entrepreneurs, but only around 13% of the population. This pattern extends beyond the United States. The data from 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor showed that the vast majority of the 69 countries surveyed reported higher entrepreneurial activity among immigrants, than among natives, especially in growth-oriented ventures. This year Webit continues its mission of hosting top level policy discussion about dealing with Europe’s most pressing issues and forming the digital future of the continent. The Digital Economy Leadership Summit of this years Webit.Festival will again become a platform for presenting the best ideas for the future development of European industry. The event will gather some of the most influential policy makers and top level experts, that shape the global agenda of the World Economic Forum, like the Global Leadership Fellow at WEF Thomas Philibeck, the Head of Europe and Eurasia at WEF Martina Larkin,the President & Global Brand Director of Havas Worldwide Jason Jerinovic and the Director General of Digital Europe John Higgins.

The tech industry, social media, marketing and entertainment in the next few years will all be shaped by the development of virtual and augmented reality and the emergence of artificial intelligence. This industry will finally rid us of two-dimensional monitors, which for several decades played the role of a window into the virtual reality. Experts predict that by 2020 the VR hardware market size will reach $5.2 billion, while the VR software market will be around $24.5 billion. In 2016 the worldwide sales of VR head-mounted displays were for just $1.43 million. Polls show that 44% of the people with access to internet are very interested in virtual reality. The AR market can grow from nearly zero today to $90 billion by 2020. And half of that revenue is going to come from sales of AR hardware devices. By the end of this year worldwide AR headset sales could hit $1.2 billion. This will be perfect for Microsoft, which started selling the developer version of the mixed reality device HoloLens last year. In 2017 we expect a huge splash by the wireless virtual reality tech. This whole process started with Apple’s adoption of new Bluetooth standard in the iPhone 7 and 7S and now we are going to see products in different categories. The Taiwanese manufacturer of Android and Windows smartphones HTC is already taking pre-orders for a $220 add-on that cuts the cables of the headset Vive and transform it into a wireless device. Today Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed to the world a new prototype for VR gloves, that he tested during his tour inside Oculus Research facility. “We’re working on new ways to bring your hands in virtual and augmented reality. Wearing these gloves, you can draw, type on a virtual keyboard, and even shoot webs like Spider-Man. That’s what I’m doing here”, he wrote on his profile in the social network. Earlier this week Google revealed its plan to bring virtual reality into the web with the new mobile browser support for WebVR in Chrome. Now the browser allows users to navigate through webpages using their fingers or mouse on desktop PC. If you want to keep up with the hottest trends in the world of virtual and augmented reality Webit.Festival is the right place for you. During our summits, you can listen to top level speakers such as the Partner in IBM Ventures Christoph Auer-Welsbach, the VP & CTO of VMware for EMEA region Joe Baguley and the General Manager of PlayFab for Europe Mark Val.

The debate about self-driving cars is already over. They are coming and the important question is who is going to build them first and how they will be regulated. Nowadays there are more than 20 companies, from traditional giants in the automotive industry to new startups, who are trying to build autonomous car by the beginning of the new decade. And hundreds of others, who work on creative solutions for the new opportunities, that the self-driving cars present. The dedication of Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk to developing autonomous vehicles is not new. But as the company is now testing its self-driving cars on public roads in California the idea is looking more like reality, than just a project. But before we get to the implementation of this fascinating technology, we must look at changing need of car ownership. According to KPMG’s study 59% of industry bosses believe that more than half of all car owners today will no longer want to own a car by 2025. The automation systems of the future will empower us to make the choice whether to drive on our own, or enjoy our automobile journeys as passengers. And instead of today’s car ownership model, we will most probably rely on the idea of mobility as a service by the end of the next decade. And while most of us imagine that the future of automotive industry is fully committed to the electricity, the senior director of NVIDIA Danny Shapiro does not agree with this statement. “We have a projection that by 2025, globally 15% of vehicles are going to have an electric component, whether that’s a pure electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid or full hybrid. For western Europe, that percentage would obviously be higher”, Shapiro said in an interview for The Guardian. He thinks that the huge oil infrastructure worldwide and the pro-oil administration in the United States in the next four years will slow down this process, or at least divert it to development of hybrid engines. Meanwhile Japanese government is subsidising automakers, that create cars with hydrogen fuel cells, but the lack of infrastructure to support this new kind of fuel consumption will delay their implementation. The common thing between all this technologies is the aim to transform the transportation into a more eco-friendly industry and lower its harmful emissions in line with the commitments in the Paris climate agreement, reached in the end of 2015. If you want to keep up with the hottest trends in the world of mobility Webit.Festival is the right place for you. During our summits, you can listen to top level speakers such as the Director for International Transportation and Government in Xerox Richard Harris and the Managing Partner at New Mobility World Alexander Renz.

The Blockchain technology has the potential to lower the bank infrastructure expenses by nearly 30% if it is implemented in the right way. This will help the banks worldwide to save between $8 and $12 billion per year. But there are still many questions to be answered before Blockchain becomes the go to tech in the world of big banking, and not only. The Executive Chairman of Alphabet Inc. Eric Schmidt described it as an incredible achievement of cryptography and said that in the modern era the ability to create something that no one can copy has a great value. One of the main reasons for success of the internet is the constant changing of the way we transfer data, audio and video. But until now, the global network never had a method for transfer of assets. Blockchain is the technological solution, that made this thing a reality. But still most people remain skeptical about the libertarian utopia of Bitcoin and the radical philosophy it presents. Of course Blockchain is much bigger than its most recognized cryptocurrency and has the power to be the main tool of the Big Data global infrastructure of the future. The main concern about Blockchain remains its safety. In December, Forbes reported that hackers have stolen millions of dollars in Bitcoin, using only phone numbers. Unfortunately, unlike the credit card transactions, the transfers of cryptocurrency is irreversible. Recently even the big industry players, like venture capitalists and entrepreneurs were hit by a wave of Bitcoin scams. Most of them are done by a phone number highjacking and changing the passwords of email accounts and bank profiles. This type of security weakness can be used against anyone who is using their phone for services as Google, PayPal, Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter and iCloud. In the period between 2017 and 2021 the expenses for cybersecurity worldwide will surpass $1 trillion, compared to only $81.6 billion for 2016. Meanwhile experts predict that in 2021 the total cost of cybercrime damages is gonna be around $6 trillion - double than the $3 trillion in 2013. With the expanding of IoE we can expect around 50 billion connected devices by the end of the decade, and all of them will need to be secured. By 2020 the volume of data in internet will be around 50 times bigger than it is today. The connected future of the world present many opportunities, but along with them will come the serious risk for our privacy and personal and financial safety. To learn more on the topic of cyber security and privacy, visit the Security & Privacy Summit within Webit.Festival Europe. Top level speakers from all over the world will share their experience during the event, which is held on 25 and 26 of April in Sofia. You can listen to the CEO of LSEC-Leaders in Security Ulrich Seldeslachts, the CEO of Intel Security for EMEA region Raj Samani and the Co-Founder of Distil Network Rami Essaid. During the Webit’s FinTech & Blockchain Summit speakers like the Executive VP for Global product strategy of Wirecard Christian Von Hammel-Boten and the venture capital investor and CEO of Novus Ordo Capital Liliana Reasor will share their views on topics, such as the future of payments and the ventures, driven by digitalization.

Any expert in the world will tell l you that in the era of Internet, videos are the best way to advertise your products and services. And hardly the world has a bigger sport for TV commercials than the several hours during the NFL’s Super Bowl. More than a half of the marketers worldwide name video as the content with best return of investment, while experts forecast that by 2020 it will account for 82% of all consumer internet traffic. The biggest single event in American sports pulled in 111.3 million viewers in the USA on Sunday night, down slightly from last year’s game numbers. Despite the epic comeback in the 34-28 overtime win of New England Patriots over Atlanta Falcons, marketers around the world were more interested in the annual Super Bowl commercials, than Tom Brady’s bid for greatest quarterback in the history of the league. The average spending for a 30-second commercial slot this year was around $5 million. But this is something that most of the biggest companies, that are seeking brand visibility, are willing to pay. This year the top level marketers in USA tried to reach their audience with a mix of emotional and political messages, that reflects the recent months of turbulence in the American society. Here are the 5 best ads, aired during Super Bowl 2017: Airbnb’s “We Accept” message Audi’s “Daughter” Budweiser’s tribute to its immigrant co-founder Adolphus Busch Coca Cola’s “America, the Beautiful” The Skittles romantic rainbow If you want to keep up with the hottest trends in the world of marketing Webit.Festival is the right place for you. During the Marketing & Innovations Summit, you can listen to top level speakers such as the Chief Creative Officer at DigitasLBi Chris Clarke, who was recently placed at 53th place in The Drum’s Adverati list of the most influential people in advertising.

The global economy becomes increasingly digital and decentralized and only those, who adapt best, will be able to survive in the new world economic order. Over the next decade the world will have to deal with problems, such as manufacturing automation and changing labour market, rising cyber crime, overpopulation of the planet and the aging population in developed economies. For the last 12 years European Union’s percentage of the global GDP has fallen from nearly 32% to only about 23%. The main reasons for that are the outsourcing of production and the better position of countries like China and India had for managing the effects of the global economic crisis. But EU still has the tools to remain a leader of the civilized world and to be the engine of the new digital economy. As long as it starts using the full potential of its member states and expand their economic capabilities in the best way possible, while maximizing their human capital. This can happen through smart specialization and shared goals and vision. Two years ago the commissioner for digital economy Andrus Ansip forecasted that Europe can achieve a 10% rise in its e-commerce with a digital single market. The former Estonian prime minister was one of the top guests during Webit’s CEEDS event, which was focused on the digital perspectives for the Central end Eastern Europe region. The idea for a digital single market has become one of the top missions of the European Commission for the years to come and can boost the block’s economy with an annual growth of €165 billion and 1.3% of continent’s GDP. This year Webit continues its mission of hosting top level policy discussion about the digital future of the continent. The Digital Economy Leadership Summit of this years Webit.Festival will again become a platform for presenting the best ideas for the future development of European industry with a focus on the most disadvantaged regions. The event will gather some of the most influential policy makers and top level experts, that shape the global agenda of the World Economic Forum, like the Global Leadership Fellow at WEF Thomas Philibeck, the Head of Europe and Eurasia at WEF Martina Larkin,the President & Global Brand Director of Havas Worldwide Jason Jerinovic and the Director General of Digital Europe John Higgins. They will share their vision and experience in topics, such as automation technologies and the changing balance of the social contract between governments, employers and individuals, how AI is shaping up the profile of the voters and what are the things Europe must do to defend its leadership position under the growing pressures from internal and external events.

A survey from 2016 shows that 75% of employees have a hard time accessing information in their enterprise systems and applications. Today’s workers often don’t use the multibillion dollar software that their employers invest in, because instead of making their life easier, sometimes enterprise software does the contrary. The omnipresent appliance of big data, clouds and complex tasks creates the perfect conditions for the rise of enterprise software with the aim to improve employee productivity. A simplified approach to enterprise applications will directly result in improved business decision-making. Enterprise software – namely business intelligence (BI), CRM, ERP and marketing automation – has greatly evolved over the last years. This kind of solutions are robust and secure, offer hybrid solutions, cloud storage, social media incorporation, mobile experience and much more you can think about, in order to lead companies in their transformation towards modern, global enterprises. Here are some trends that are going to modernize enterprise software from 2017 on, so that its usage is as efficient as intended. Smart Bots can easily learn, organize and provide everything needed, and from now on, they’ll be adopted by significant number of companies. Their flexibility, huge appliance and assistance give employees and companies fast, precise and effective communication they need. Using embedded predictive, AI technologies and marketing automation will become  engagement database for the enterprise with the usage of self-driving cars of the enterprise, voice recognition and predictive analytics. (Work) information comes in bigger volumes over the days, and finding it easy is the key for eased workflow. Customized micro and mobile apps are with such simple and intuitive design, so that all the information is accessible, mobile and well-organized. To learn more on the topic of Enterprise software and DevOps, join the Dev Summit within Webit.Festival. On the scene you’ll see and hear top level speakers, such as the Founder and CTU of Maria DB Foundation Michael "Monty" Widenius, the Founder and CTO of Hired Allan Grant, and the Developer Evangelist in Amazon Peter Heinrich.