10 infoShare 2019 highlights by Prograils
Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and women in tech are among main themes of infoShare 2019. Right before joining the biggest tech conference in Central Eastern Europe, we looked upon the agenda and chose ten events you simply cannot miss.
Over the last few years, infoShare in Gdansk, Poland, has become the region's main meeting point for entrepreneurs from the tech industry, marketers and those curious about the latest and coming technology trends. Engineers, startup owners, investors and those simply interested in the future of the industry certainly follow different pathways in the conference agenda.
As a software development team, we have visited infoShare for a couple of years now. You can read the review of infoShare 2018 in an older article on our blog. All these visits have brought us to a point where we can offer a somewhat holistic look at this year's edition.
With a little help from the Prograils staff: Rails developer Zuzanna Sawala, front end developer Bartek Bykowy and COO Marta Wojciechowicz, I put together a list of the highlights of infoShare 2019: speeches, lectures and panels you simply should not miss. Here we go!
1. The future of technology. Reset your mental software by Tony Bosma (May 8th, 10:00 CET, Growth Stage)
Speech from a popular futurist, technology trend-watcher and Extend Limits author on still the biggest challenge of tech industry: making it serve human values and not the other way round. Tony Bosma will present the biggest technological trends of today, examine them from human perspective, and tell what does it mean for entrepreneurs nowadays. "Be a rebel and use technology to finally create real human values" - his motto goes.
2. You will get hacked by Kirils Solovjovs (May 8th, 10:00 CET, DevTrends Stage)
Kirils Solovjovs from Possible Security, a liablity company based in Riga, Latvia will talk the history of internet security, cyberattacks and how the world as of 2019 doesn't care about cybersecurity. In an introduction to his speech, Solovjovs writes: "you will get hacked; your employer will get hacked; your home will get hacked; your government will get hacked... likely they already have". Scared? You better come listen to him.
3. Desktop Apps with JavaScript by Felix Rieseberg (May 8th, 10:30 CET, FullStack Stage)
The senior staff engineer at Slack will guide us through the realm of the JavaScript-written desktop software, with popular apps like Atom, Visual Studio Code and... Slack being the most popular ones. The talk will also be an introduction to Electron, a framework used to combine native code with Node.js to build cross-platform desktop software. By building a small code editor on stage, Felix will cover a wide range of topics, including deep integration with the operating system, performance optimization and security. For Conference Pass + holders only.
4. Let's talk office by Karolina Dudek and Szymon Boniecki (May 8th, 12:05 CET, Growth Stage)
Wondering how to organize your office that will help your business thrive and facilitate its growth? How can an office actually help support people performing the growing number of tasks? Does workplace strategy help keep organizational culture and productivity during subsequent stages of growth? If you ask yourself these questions, you should visit this panel.
5. PWAs on steroids by Trishul Goel (May 8th, 11:10 CET, FullStack Stage)
PWAs or progressive mobile apps combine the features of mobile websites and native mobile apps. Mozilla's Trishul Goel will guide you through the world of 2019's leading tech trend. Offline availability, modern web APIs that bring PWAs beyond browsers and a bunch of other cool features should give you a sense of why PWAs are the thing. For Conference Pass + holders.
6. 3 Mity Cybersecurity (3 Myths of Cybersecurity) by Piotr Konieczny (May 8th, 11:10 CET, DevTrends Stage)
Taking care of your online privacy is a trending topic nowadays. But on the other hand, given its relative freshness, it can be a challenge too. This is why certain myths arose around it. Piotr Konieczny, an author most known from his publications on the Niebezpiecznik.pl website guides us through the most actionable safety measures we can take, as well as lists those that are completely pointless. Thinking that putting a piece of adhesive tape on your computer cam will make you 100 per cent secure? Well, you may be wrong. This is why it's worth listening to an expert. In Polish only.
7. It could be heaven or it could be hell by Venkat Subramaniam (May 9th, 11:20 CET, DevTrends Stage)
What is it like to be a polyglot programmer? Agile developer Venkat Subramiam is going to walk you through the pleasures and perils of being one. His keynote will focus on the languages of the Java platform. Zuzanna Sawala, Rails developer at Prograils comments: "At most conferences you usually hear about the highest possible specialization in programming. To hear somebody actually talk about the other way is rare. This is why I find this lecture exceptionally appealing."
8. In which industries can AI become a game changer? (May 9th, 14:50 CET, Arena)
AI. Artficial Intelligence. What are its implications for human lives, different industries and how can it shape the direction of a business? What is the social impact of implementing it and how are we going to handle it? These are but a few questions that will be raised during the panel discussion including a scientist, representatives of worldwide corporations, and a 15-year old machine learning developer Zaynah Bhanji inter alia.
9. Women in tech - why there is so much discussion about it (May 9th, 13:30 CET, ARENA)
A panel discussion about women-centered initiatives in the tech industry. While the title might sound a little arrogant, it certainly will be good to listen to what representatives of corporations, NGOs and infoShare organizers have to say on the topic. Yes, the majority of panelists are women.
10. Common API security pitfalls by Philippe De Ryck (May 9th, 15:30 CET, Crypto& Security Stage)
How to avoid compromising user accounts and unauthorized data access while taking advantage of easily accessible REST APIs at work on applications? Which security features are an absolute must and which can be easily abandoned? What kind of measures do you need to take into account? This talk is meant to arm any developer with knowledge and best practices for improving APIs. For Conference Pass + holders.
Photo by Freestocks.org/Unsplash.com
