The Web Summit officially opened today bright and early at 9am with found Paddy Cosgrave taking to the main stage.
The day was split up between numerous stages in the RDS with some of the biggest names in tech talking about the industry, innovation and moving forward.
Big names of the day included Kevin Rose of Google Ventures alongside Tony Hawk, known primarily as a professional skateboarder.
Gary Vaynerchuk gave an empowered and passionate rant about the industry and how he wants change in the way business is done, citing how he works harder and smarter than most people out there.
Father of the Internet, Prof. Kleinrock gave a discussion on “A Brief History of the Internet and Its Dynamic Future”, opening the floor to questions which he answered openly and honestly when discussing controversial topics such as drones.
“Drones are a technological wonder, they’re also a nightmare… It’s in the eye of the beholder” he said, whilst pointing out that innovators were never expected to think about the implications of what they were creating.
The halls were full of companies advertising their wares, showcasing new apps and mediums of social interaction as well as bizarre utilities such as machines for collecting analytical data on bees.
Many companies brought along gimmicks to attract an audience in the form of video games, and oxygen bars, with many going the extra stretch to give out as much free merchandise as possible, all in the name of exchanging business cards.
The Web Summit is expanding into The Summit in coming years with more events going on around it consisting of the Food Summit which took place in the adjacent Herbert Park, served up by Good Food Ireland, as well as the Night Summit which is providing entertainment throughout the evening for the 10’000 attendees whilst promoting some of the best bands in Ireland.
