LIBRECON 2018, a successful and international edition

LIBRECON 2018 has come to an end on November 22. For two days, it turned the city of Bilbao into the point of reference for the dissemination of the technological avant-garde based on open source. The organizers of the ASOLIF event (National Federation of Free Software Companies) and ESLE (Esukadi Association of Free Technologies and Open Knowledge Companies), have highly valued this edition of LIBRECON powered by CEBIT 2018.

The event, as already explained when we announced the availability of tickets and event dates, Has become one of the leaders in southern Europe on the dissemination of open technologies. Emphasizing both the industrial sector, finance and public administrations.

Thanks to the more than 1200 attendees and 70 speakers, it has undoubtedly become the most international edition in recent years. This has been possible and visible thanks to the participation of speakers from more than a dozen countries. The event brought together more than 70 speakers, 40 exhibitors and more than 600 leading companies in the ICT sector based on open source at the Euskalduna Palace.

It has also been the setting for some 500 professional meetings. With them, a first meeting was sought when formalizing subsequent commercial agreements. The meetings have brought together companies that need solutions based on open source and companies capable of developing them. It has thus been wanted to promote the generation of business opportunities through dynamic speed networking.

LIBRECON powered by CEBIT brought together more than 1200 attendees in its most international edition

Among those present were prominent companies such as Red Hat, IBM, Hitachi, Mozilla, and a long etc. Without forgetting someone as recognizable and influential in the world of free software as Richard Stallman, or the general manager of Red Hat in Spain and Portugal, Julia Bernal. In addition to other key figures in the ICT sector based on free technologies. Also present were prominent businessmen from the Hispano-German Circle and from leading free software associations such as Open Forum Europe, CEBIT or ESOP, among others.

Regarding the topics covered in LIBRECON 2018, it must be said that special attention has been paid the role of women in the technological world in general and in the open source sector in particular. There have also been other relevant issues that should be highlighted. Among them are the role of public administration in sharing and reuse policies (share and reuse) dictated from the US, industry 4.0 or the fundamental contribution of open source to cybersecurity, among others.

This forum has been supported by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Basque Government, and the Bilbao City Council. Has had a economic impact on the city of Bilbao estimated at more than half a million euros. These are data provided in a first balance by the organizers of the meeting, ESLE and ASOLIF.

LIBRECON Awards

At the end of the event, as is usual, the prizes known as LIBRECON Awards. With them, the contribution to the Open world has been recognized and awarded to different entities and people:

• The award Open company with the greatest global impact this year it was won by Red Hat. For this award, his leadership worldwide in the professional sector has been valued. All free software projects contributed to the community have also been taken into account. In addition to his ability to bring the open concept to the business world.
• It has been awarded as best international speaker to Carsten Emde from OSADL. His great work to bring open source to environments in the industry 4.0 sector has been valued.
• The award best digital transformation success story it has been for GFI. His digital transformation project in Doñana has been awarded.
• Nestor Salceda from Sygdig has been awarded by the best LIBRECON technical talk.
• The award best digital transformation strategy in public administration it has been for the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.
• Lorena Fernández from the University of Deusto, has received the award for the best initiative for the inclusion of women in the digital field open.

With these awards, LIBRECON 2018 has ended. It only remains to congratulate the winners and the organization of the event. If you want to know more in detail how this edition has passed, you can visit the event website.