ICT2013 - best bezochte activiteit van het Litouws voorzitterschap (en)

On Friday, 8 November, the largest information and communications technology (ICT) event in Europe, ICT2013: Create, Connect, Grow, ended. It had more visitors than any other event of the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council. About 5,000 representatives from the ICT sector and other guests participated: EU high officials, prominent ICT scientists, junior researchers, and students.

“ICT2013 not only demonstrated Lithuania's potential, but also saw Europe's most innovative projects and the insights of global ICT experts. I'm certain that the contacts that were established will soon become joint projects, financed by the Horizon 2020 programme. I've heard numerous positive remarks from participants and visitors. This shows that ICT2013 will serve as a stimulus for even faster ICT development,” said Rimantas Sinkevičius, Minister of Transport and Communications.

Forty-eight high-level speakers participated at the event, 200 innovative European projects were presented, more than 160 meetings to establish connections and over 3,000 face-to-face meetings took place, about 40 European student ambassadors spread the word about ICT2013, and about 50 volunteers worked at the event.

Awards were given during ICT2013 as well. The best ICT2013 exhibition participant - the MD-Peadigree project - presented a digital storage and smart analysis solution model for Europe's first paediatricians' social network. The best stands in their respective category were awarded by Evaldas Gustas, Minister of the Economy.

The digital world's women and girls of the year were also honoured. Amy Mather (13) from the United Kingdom was especially praised. She's been programming for three years, and is using her entries about programming to inspire other children interested in technology and teach them to program.

Lithuanian students’ projects were received with major success. According to Dr Linas Bukauskas, a member of the students' research evaluation jury, some students received promising commercial offers from businesses.

ICT2013 was dedicated to current and future representatives of the ICT sector, and participants of research and development and innovation programmes. European ICT policy issues were discussed, insights and future visions shared, and connections for cooperation in information and communications technology business, research, and innovation were sought. The reports covered broadband Internet, cybersecurity, nanomaterials, cloud computing, and human brain structure programming.

ICT2013 is the 20th ICT event, and was organized in our region for the first time. It was one of the major events of the Lithuanian Presidency; organized by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the European Commission.