Webit presented its annual awards during a Glamorous Gala Dinner
The European Tech, Digital Economy and Policy event for 2018 - Webit.Festival awarded the best digital innovators and integrators of technological solution on a glamorous ceremony, part of the program of the tenth anniversary of the event.
The ceremony went simultaneously with the Chairman's gala dinner by Dr. Russev. The top guests of the event filled the hall in “Arena Armeec”, which hosted the main stage of the festival earlier the same day.
Winners of Webit Awards are local and global leaders who change the world and make our lives better.
Best Innovation for Education Award
Jelena Djokovic is the National Director of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, whose mission is to change the world and status quo by investing in children, educators, parents, and youth through education. She believes in the lifelong learning concept and the strength that lies in empowering children, youth, and adults to be proactive, agile and positive about themselves which is what fuels her passion to do more. Under her guidance the organization has built 37 schools, supported 683 families, trained 1322 teachers and helped 20708 children.
Digital Entertainment & Media Special Award
ESL, formerly known as Electronic Sports League, is an eSports organizer and production company that produced video game competitions worldwide. ESL is the world’s largest eSports company. It has eleven offices worldwide and multiple international TV studios globally. ESL is also the largest eSports company to broadcast on Twich.tv.
Best Implementation of AI
Patrick van der Smagt is well-versed in the field of robotics, machine learning and neural networks. He is focussed on probabilistic deep learning for time series modelling, as well as deep learning for robotics. He provides Volkswagen Group with innovative tech solutions on common base as is the Director of the AI Research Lab.
Best Use of Technology for Accessibility & Inclusion
Nigel Ackland is an ordinary man with an extraordinary arm. He is the first person to trial RSL Steeper's groundbreaking, myoelectric prosthetic hand, the bebionic3. Before he could not imagine his future, now he is introducing the future to the others. Ackland is on a mission to disrupt how people think about prostheses and to challenge perceptions of people who wear prostheses.
Best Interactive Municipality
In becoming smarter, Lisbon’s main objectives include attracting more people to the city by promoting energy efficient housing, e-mobility, smart living and smart ageing solutions. All of the city's activities aim to contribute to a better quality of life in the city, through greater energy efficiency, mobility and improved social cohesion, along with localised regeneration efforts and citizen participation drives.
Special Smart Mobility Award
Yordanka Fandakova is the first woman to hold the position of Mayor of Sofia. She is known for initiating many municipal projects among which are the programs “Culture” and “Europe”, in which to date in more than 700 projects over 6 million Bulgarian Lev (3 million Euros) have been invested. In addition she implemented reforms covering municipal theaters and participated in the development of the long-term strategy for cultural development “Sofia-creative capital” (2013-2023). Sofia’s bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2019 was initiated by Fandakova as well.
Innovation in Payments
The innovation lies in the core of Mastercard vision. Ever since the beginning, they have been reinventing the definition of Fintech connecting and linking commerce with people and companies. Their projects never cease to amaze and intrigue their clients. As an example we could simply look at fitbit pay and garmin pay, allowing clients to pay using their electronic watches. A technology, that only 2-3 years ago would sounded futuristic. Mastercard find always modern challenges and create solutions.
Women in Tech - Digital Industry
Diana Stefanova possesses a well-structured set of skills and abilities, that have taken her to the top as she is now the Managing Director of VMware for EMEA R&D. She fuses her skills and abilities to bring out a significant industry experience with a deep focus in high-tech, from start-ups all the way to well-established corporations, like VMware, both in the Silicon Valley, USA and in EMEA. She is a true inspiration for women across the globe and a good example of the great benefit we take from gender equality.
Special Recognition Award for empowering and giving voice to women
The Award goes to Mr Shah Rukh Khan - the King of Bollywood for his inspiring work through the Meer Foundation and his advocacy and efforts in standing up for women’s and children’s rights and equality in India. His work is a great example for other leaders, celebrities and society how to use the impact for creating a better future, how to support female victims of abuse and attacks, as well as children who are battling one of world’s worst illnesses.
Long Term Partner
The award for long term partners was given to Nova and Netinfo - two companies that help with the media broadcasting of Webit.Festival for years and take the biggest event for digital economy and innovation to the Webit community.
Special Award - Outstanding Contribution to the Digital Industry
With a vast experience not only in politics but also in numerous initiatives related to society, she is the first Commissioner in the European Parliament responsible for the Digital Economy and Society. Mrs. Mariya Gabriel is the Patron of the EU Digital and Innovation Week and the initiator of "No woman - no panel".
Missed the 2018 edition of Webit.Festival Europe? Don’t miss the 2019! Get your super early bird 2in1 tickets - 2 for the price of 1 here!
The awards were presented in 13 categories. The winners are:
See also: Official Winners page on our site Best use of Digital Innovations in Health Award Professor Shafi Ahmed made world headline news in 2014 by streaming a live operation using Google Glass to 14,000 students and trainees across 132 countries. He performed the world’s first virtual reality operation which was watched by 55,000 people in 140 countries, and reached 4.5 million on Twitter.and reached 4.5 million on Twitter. He is a Consultant Surgeon and Co-founder of Virtual Medics & Medical Realities. Security and Anti-Fraud Innovation Award Michele Mosca is founder of the Institute for Quantum Computing and a Mathematics Professor at the University of Waterloo. His early work in cryptography led him to study quantum algorithms at Oxford, after which he returned to Canada to start several research, training and outreach initiatives in cryptography and quantum computing, as well as two companies. He has made major contributions to the phase estimation approach to quantum algorithms, including the hidden subgroup problems, and quantum searching and counting. In the area of quantum security, he helped define the notion of private quantum channels and develop optimal methods for encrypting quantum information using classical keys.
Best Innovation for Education Award
Jelena Djokovic is the National Director of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, whose mission is to change the world and status quo by investing in children, educators, parents, and youth through education. She believes in the lifelong learning concept and the strength that lies in empowering children, youth, and adults to be proactive, agile and positive about themselves which is what fuels her passion to do more. Under her guidance the organization has built 37 schools, supported 683 families, trained 1322 teachers and helped 20708 children.
Digital Entertainment & Media Special Award
ESL, formerly known as Electronic Sports League, is an eSports organizer and production company that produced video game competitions worldwide. ESL is the world’s largest eSports company. It has eleven offices worldwide and multiple international TV studios globally. ESL is also the largest eSports company to broadcast on Twich.tv.
Best Implementation of AI
Patrick van der Smagt is well-versed in the field of robotics, machine learning and neural networks. He is focussed on probabilistic deep learning for time series modelling, as well as deep learning for robotics. He provides Volkswagen Group with innovative tech solutions on common base as is the Director of the AI Research Lab.
Best Use of Technology for Accessibility & Inclusion
Nigel Ackland is an ordinary man with an extraordinary arm. He is the first person to trial RSL Steeper's groundbreaking, myoelectric prosthetic hand, the bebionic3. Before he could not imagine his future, now he is introducing the future to the others. Ackland is on a mission to disrupt how people think about prostheses and to challenge perceptions of people who wear prostheses.
Best Interactive Municipality
In becoming smarter, Lisbon’s main objectives include attracting more people to the city by promoting energy efficient housing, e-mobility, smart living and smart ageing solutions. All of the city's activities aim to contribute to a better quality of life in the city, through greater energy efficiency, mobility and improved social cohesion, along with localised regeneration efforts and citizen participation drives.
Special Smart Mobility Award
Yordanka Fandakova is the first woman to hold the position of Mayor of Sofia. She is known for initiating many municipal projects among which are the programs “Culture” and “Europe”, in which to date in more than 700 projects over 6 million Bulgarian Lev (3 million Euros) have been invested. In addition she implemented reforms covering municipal theaters and participated in the development of the long-term strategy for cultural development “Sofia-creative capital” (2013-2023). Sofia’s bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2019 was initiated by Fandakova as well.
Innovation in Payments
The innovation lies in the core of Mastercard vision. Ever since the beginning, they have been reinventing the definition of Fintech connecting and linking commerce with people and companies. Their projects never cease to amaze and intrigue their clients. As an example we could simply look at fitbit pay and garmin pay, allowing clients to pay using their electronic watches. A technology, that only 2-3 years ago would sounded futuristic. Mastercard find always modern challenges and create solutions.
Women in Tech - Digital Industry
Diana Stefanova possesses a well-structured set of skills and abilities, that have taken her to the top as she is now the Managing Director of VMware for EMEA R&D. She fuses her skills and abilities to bring out a significant industry experience with a deep focus in high-tech, from start-ups all the way to well-established corporations, like VMware, both in the Silicon Valley, USA and in EMEA. She is a true inspiration for women across the globe and a good example of the great benefit we take from gender equality.
Special Recognition Award for empowering and giving voice to women
The Award goes to Mr Shah Rukh Khan - the King of Bollywood for his inspiring work through the Meer Foundation and his advocacy and efforts in standing up for women’s and children’s rights and equality in India. His work is a great example for other leaders, celebrities and society how to use the impact for creating a better future, how to support female victims of abuse and attacks, as well as children who are battling one of world’s worst illnesses.
Long Term Partner
The award for long term partners was given to Nova and Netinfo - two companies that help with the media broadcasting of Webit.Festival for years and take the biggest event for digital economy and innovation to the Webit community.
Special Award - Outstanding Contribution to the Digital Industry
With a vast experience not only in politics but also in numerous initiatives related to society, she is the first Commissioner in the European Parliament responsible for the Digital Economy and Society. Mrs. Mariya Gabriel is the Patron of the EU Digital and Innovation Week and the initiator of "No woman - no panel".
Missed the 2018 edition of Webit.Festival Europe? Don’t miss the 2019! Get your super early bird 2in1 tickets - 2 for the price of 1 here! 
… a picture tells a thousand stories! Webit.Festival Europe 2018 was...
10'000 people from 111 countries visited the Webit City
Don't miss the 2019 edition. Book your ticket now
Webit.Festival Europe 2018 in numbers:
- 10'000+ ATTENDEES (7200 Webit.Festival participants and 3000 Webit.X visitors) - 231 EXHIBITORS - 422 SPEAKERS - 110 HOURS of conference agenda & amazing content - 75% C-level (executive) ATTENDANCE - 111 VISITING COUNTRIES - 150 of THE BEST EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND SCALEUPS - 1000+ POLICY MAKERS The European Tech, Digital Economy and Policy event for 2018 was a huge success!
The Innovate! Summit and the Plenary Session, chaired by the European Commissioner for Digital Agenda and Society Mariya Gabriel, hosted some of the worlds digital, tech and policy leaders gathered to re:Invent Europe's Future.
The Webit City has welcomed 10'000 global leaders and they all requested a residency :)
Here are just 5 quotes out of over 1000 interviews with the Webit City residents: "Unparalleled global business and policy networking at its highest level!" "The most amazing business event with a festival experience" "We basically do business here" "This is the only event where top EU policy makers and global business leaders exchange thoughts and share valuable discussions" “We got more investors visiting our expo booth compared to any other event we have been to”
200+ exhibitors at over 20'000 sq.m Webit City expo & business networking area
From global tech, health, fintech, cybersecurity, mobility, blockchain, entertainment, AI, cloud leaders to smart jet fighters - they all were at Webit.Festival Europe 2018 represented by their global or EMEA HQs. Also hosted national pavilions.
12 independent summits and over 50 meetups
421 speakers have created over 110 hours of conference agenda & amazing content within 12 independent summits.
Founders Games winner of 200'000 EUR cheque is BIOO from Portugal.
Cities 4.0 Summit, Digital Entertainment and Media Summit, Money Summit and Blockchain Summit
Webit Night Urban Summit
The Global Webit Awards Ceremony and The Chairman' Dinner by Dr. Russev
The World Famous Webit Party, powered by Playboy, Fashion TV and Dorcel
Webit.X - gathering and inspiring 3000 young future leaders
Missed the 2018 edition? Don’t miss the 2019! Book your ticket now at super earlybird rate
Prices increase tomorrow! Chairman’s Dinner + Webit.Awards Ceremony
Greetings,
The Webit.Festival tickets prices are to increase by 30% in less than a day!
See who else has already booked and joined among the 6000 attendees from 110 countries.
See you @ Webit.Festival! The Webit.Team
Join Webit.Festival and connect with global tech and digital founders, CEOs, Presidents, innovators, inventors and regulators!
1 Ticket for
- 10 independent summits on 5 stages - 110 visiting countries - 200 exhibitors and sponsors - 420 speakers - 6000 attendees (75% senior level attendance)
Go Platinum to have access to the who is who of the tech and digital world!
For the first time we are opening the Chairman's Black Tie Dinner and the Webit.Awards Ceremony to non-platinum-pass holders. As this is our 10th anniversary we decided to provide opportunity to non-platinum pass holders to book a seat at this special dinner and to get a feeling of what is to be Platinum at Webit! This is the ultimate opportunity to network and connect with the crème de la crème of the tech, digital and policy worlds @ Webit.Book your seat at the Chairman's Black Tie Dinner and the Webit Awards Ceremony
See you @ Webit.Festival! The Webit.Team
Chairman of Huawei joins Webit.Festival 2018!
More global leaders join Webit.Festival Europe 2018!
With over 75% senior attendance among the 6000 people audience from 110 countries - the speakers can only be global leaders and shapers! Join Webit.Festival Europe to meet with them, including Mr. Liang Hua, the newly elected Chairman of Huawei - the world-leading telecommunications provider, just over $90 billion in global annual sales in 2017, Huawei is also the world’s third largest smartphone seller.STILL NOT TOO LATE!
Join the Festival and explore unparalleled business networking
A warm welcome to Thibaut Gregoire, General Counsel, Europe, MasterCard, who joins along with his colleagues - both Vice-Presidents - Mikael Svensson and Louise Holden after the President of Mastercard Europe Javier Perez already joined Webit. Presenting you some of the newly announced speakers of the upcoming Europe's tech, digital economy and policy event for 2018 - Webit.Festival!
The Blockchain world joins Webit to challenge the future of the decentralized economy! Webit.Festival is the place to involve policy makers, all major tech companies and the blockchain ecosystem to innovate through collaboration!
With over 200 exhibitors and sponsors the 10th Webit.Festival is the largest ever European edition, double in size compared to last year.
A warm welcome to Huawei, Red Bull, Google, Amatas, Cogni, Jelurida among the newly joined sponsors and exhibitors of Webit.Fetsival 2018.
Interested in exhibiting / sponsoring? Contact us asap!
See you on 26-27 June in Sofia! The Webit Team
Chief Security Officer of Cisco – Edna Conway joins Webit this...
Edna Conway currently serves as Cisco’s Chief Security Officer, Global Value Chain, creating clear strategies to deliver secure operating models for the digital economy. She has built new organizations delivering cyber security, compliance, risk management, sustainability and value chain transformation. She drives a comprehensive security architecture across Cisco’s third-party ecosystem.
Here you can see a full list of the confirmed speakers at Webit.Festival Europe 2018, while here you can get all the information you need about the tickets for the event. Managing supply chain risk requires a comprehensive approach over the complete product or process life cycle, and Cisco is looking at the potential impact of new technologies such as blockchain and the “internet of things” as part of its solution.Digitization is driving each of us across all industries to make dramatic changes to how we approach customers, products, services, and the always-on, real-time information rich marketplace. This digital economy is gender agnostic. And, it is highly dependent on a connected global ecosystem. The message is clear—no one person, enterprise, industry, government or region can stand alone any longer.
Prior to Cisco, Conway was a partner in an international private legal practice and served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire.“We define the value chain as the end-to-end life cycle for any solution. In order to build trust, you need to understand the risks you are taking, and those risks need to be measured in the language of business.” says Conway
She is recognized domestically (US Presidential Commissions) and globally (NATO) as the developer of architectures delivering value chain security, sustainability and resiliency. Her insight is featured in a range of publications, analyst reports, and case studies, including Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg, CIO Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Conway is constantly using her expertise to leverage new tools in an ever-expanding digital arsenal. She has turned her attention to the security potential in blockchain. With the ability to track data through networks, blockchain becomes a highly effective digital ledger, or “passport for the data” according to her.My path to security was built on a foundation of protecting intellectual property; enhanced by a legal background and rich engineering and operational leadership roles afforded to me by Cisco. Each of these opportunities, including leaving a successful legal practice to join Cisco, required faith. Faith in my own ability to learn an entirely new discipline and trust that my colleagues would support me in that effort.
Recognition of her industry leadership includes membership in the Fortune Most Powerful Women community, and awards including: a Fed 100 Award, Stevie “Maverick of the Year Award,” a Connected World Magazine “Machine to Machine and IOT Trailblazer” Award, an SC Media Reboot Leadership Award, a New Hampshire Tech Professional of the Year 2018 Award, and CSO of the Year Award at RSA.“A chain of custody of your data and your actions across the full spectrum of a life cycle adds a degree of integrity we’ve never had the ability to do easily before”
Join the glamorous Webit.Awards Ceremony at the 10th Anniversary of Webit!
The Webit Awards' shall be presented at glamorous ceremony followed by the traditional Chairman's Black Tie dinner during the upcoming 10th anniversary edition of Webit.Festival Europe 2018 on 26-27 June in Sofia.
This year one of The Webits - a special recognition award goes to the King of Bollywood - Mr. Shah Rukh Khan for voicing children's and women's rights
Under the 2018 theme re:Inventing Europe's Future, Webit.Foundation along with the EU Commissioner Digital Agenda and Society, Mariya Gabriel set a focus on empowering women in tech and politics setting special events and providing 1000 free tickets for women. There is also a special Ladies Lounge at Webit, powered by FiBank.
This year over 2800 startups applied and among them a global jury of investors, enterprise leaders, media and founders selected Europe's top 200 Startups/Scaleups.
During a special event and a ceremony at Webit's Plenary Stage on 27 June the top 5 companies shall make a final pitch and the winner shall be selected and awarded a 200 000 EUR investment cheque.
Looking forward to meeting you at Webit.Festival Europe!
Warm regards,
the Webit team
Special thanks to our sponsors: General Partner: MasterCard Strategic Media Partners NetInfo and Nova TV Platinum Partners: SAP, Microsoft, UBB, KBC Group Gold Partners: VISA, VMWare, Novartis, Bayer, European Commission, Samsung, Wolf Theiss, Google, Ryalto, Amgen, Astellas, Generali, Ambrosus, Italian Trade Agency, UK Innovate, Bulgarian SME Executive Agency, FiBank, Philli Morris, Garanti Koza, Here. Silver Partners Fox, Turner, Fashion TV, Kaon, Hellas Sat, Mall Advertising, Telelink
Book your Platinum Webit Experience and join the ceremony
Webit hosts Prime Ministers, global innovators, industry, civil society, policy and academia leaders from 110 countries. The Awards Ceremony and the Black Tie Dinner are the place to meet the leaders of the Europe's digital and tech ecosystem along with top policy makers and regulators.The other Webit awards Industry categories include:
- Best Use of Digital Innovations in Health - Best Security and Anti-fraud Solution - Best Smart Cities Mobility Solution - Women in Tech Award - Outstanding Contribution to the Digital Industry - Sustainable City Award - Best Use of Digital for Accessibility & Inclusion - Best Implementation of AI - Best Innovation for Education - Most Innovative Smart Cities Platform - Best Smart Mobility AwardThis year over 2800 startups applied and among them a global jury of investors, enterprise leaders, media and founders selected Europe's top 200 Startups/Scaleups.
During a special event and a ceremony at Webit's Plenary Stage on 27 June the top 5 companies shall make a final pitch and the winner shall be selected and awarded a 200 000 EUR investment cheque.
Looking forward to meeting you at Webit.Festival Europe!
Warm regards,
the Webit team
Special thanks to our sponsors: General Partner: MasterCard Strategic Media Partners NetInfo and Nova TV Platinum Partners: SAP, Microsoft, UBB, KBC Group Gold Partners: VISA, VMWare, Novartis, Bayer, European Commission, Samsung, Wolf Theiss, Google, Ryalto, Amgen, Astellas, Generali, Ambrosus, Italian Trade Agency, UK Innovate, Bulgarian SME Executive Agency, FiBank, Philli Morris, Garanti Koza, Here. Silver Partners Fox, Turner, Fashion TV, Kaon, Hellas Sat, Mall Advertising, Telelink
Only today! 50% off from all tickets for Webit.Festival Europe 2018!
Only today (29 May) you can join Europe's tech and digital policy event for 2018 and have access to 10+ independent summits and 50+ meetups with 1 ticket at half price!
Webit is welcoming this new era of data privacy by providing all our subscribers a special "DATA present” - 50% off from all tickets for Webit.Festival Europe 2018 only today - 29 May.
Register here and get your ticket
to join Prime Ministers, EU Commissioners and EU top policy makers, global innovators and enterprise executives, Ministers, Mayors, investors, media and Europe's top 200 startups and scaleups - all at Webit.Festival Europe with a special discount of 50% on all tickets with code: GDPR 6000 global experts (67% senior attendance) join Webit from 110 countries.Check who is speaking
Over 200 exhibitors and sponsors join Webit this year. A warm welcome to the group of new partners who join Webit including Microsoft, SAP, Samsung, Fox, Novartis, VISA, UBB, part of KBC Group, Superhosting . BG, VMware, FOX, Turner, Novartis, Bayer, Amgen, Generali to name a few. Special thanks to our General partner MasterCard and our strategic media partners Nova TV and NetInfo.Happy to help.
Should you want to join as exhibitor and sponsor - please contact us.
We’ve updated our Privacy Statement
There is so much buzz around the new EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
At Webit we are firmly committed to privacy and data protection and we are happy to confirm that we, too, have taken all necessary steps to ensure [full] compliance with the GDPR. All necessary controls and features are in place so you can continue to use our service with confidence.
Feel free to check out our updated Privacy Statement to understand more about the types of information we may collect, how we use it, and why we request it.
Webit is all about community and empowering your success through connecting you with potential partners, investors and clients from all around the world.
SPECIAL 50% DISCOUNT
We also want to take this opportunity to let you know that Webit is welcoming this new era of data privacy by providing all our subscribers a special "DATA present” 50% off from all tickets for Webit.Fetsival Europe 2018 starting this Friday, 25 May till 29 May.
We release a total of 250 tickets for this special "DATA Present".
Register here
and join Webit.Festival Europe with a special discount of 50% on all tickets with code: GDPR
We collect personal data when you register with us via our website or when participating in our events, exchange personal contacts, etc. We will use your personal information to provide and further improve our services, to ensure the security of our website and information systems, as well as for fraud prevention. We do not share it with other companies or organizations. We send to our customers, partners, participants in our events, subscribers and community our information bulletin about the upcoming events, promotions and free tickets, latest developments, new technologies, meetups, parties, products and services, etc.
It is all about experience and successful business networking!
With only one month till the 10th edition of Webit.Festival Europe 2018 (25-27 June '18) we are excited to share that we have added a new special lounge for your successful business networking at the Festival!
As you know, we had to move to a new venue because Webit.Festival 2018 doubled in size.
With all the space we need now - we decided that it is time go wild!
All the 6000 attendees from global enterprises, through SMEs to scaleups/startups, academia leaders and policy makers come to Webit for 4 main reasons:- to see the future (check the speakers and Europe's top 200 startups) - to establish their place in the future (policy makers and business leaders discuss digital policy initiatives) - to connect with the right people (see who attends) - and to make successful business with them and expand their networks So we take business networking at Webit very seriously!Thus today we present to you the new Webit Fountain Networking Lounge!
Yesterday we have commissioned a company to build a brand new Dancing Webit Fountain and a water mirror around which you shall have one more unique lounge for your successful networking. The magic is that after Webit this fountain shall be no more! A fountain built for only 3 days and only for your eyes! >GET YOUR WEBIT TICKET TODAY (prices go up this week)< The New Fountain Lounge adds to the number of other special lounges you may join and have your 1:1 or group business meetings while at Webit, including: - the AI Lounge - the Cybertech Lounge - the Cities 4.0 Lounge - the Blockchain Lounge - Innovate! Lounge - the Ladies Lounge - the Platinum Lounge Looking forward to welcome you @ Europe's tech, innovation and digital policy event for 2018!