Edition 20

WCIT 2016 Edition 20

The 20^th WORLD CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The 20^th WCIT will take place on October 3-5, 2016 in Brasília, the capital of Brazil. The Brazilian Federation of Information Technology Companies (ASSESPRO) is the official organizer of the event, to be held for the first time in South America. The event will gather some three thousand people from more than 80 countries around the world. They include business leaders, senior government officials, innovators, investors, and celebrated academia, who will discuss topics related to The Promises of the Digital Age and conducting business.

THEME

The theme of the Brazilian World Congress is, “Promises of the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities.” The invitation aims to allow companies in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to interact and devise new solutions to ensuring access to market innovations for all. Global market leaders will share experiences and collaborate ideas with local and international development of public policies and best practices, which will generate benefits for smaller markets. It will also build partnerships and invest in ideas and innovations from around the world.

HISTORY OF THE WCIT

Guadalajara – Mexico (2014)

The latest WCIT was held in 2014 in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was attended by three thousand people from 73 countries. The program included 107 speeches, 14 panels, 10 presentations, 14 workshops and 11 side-events specially designed for networking purposes. The exhibition area featured 11 international pavilions and 52 exhibitors from the IT field. Over 1,000 deals were made during the fair.
Montreal, Canada (2012)

WCIT 2012 took place in Montreal and brought together 2,500 participants from 62 countries, with over 60 speechesspeeches. The C200 Investment Forum, held in partnership with Export Development Canada, presented the generation of Canadian ICT exporters to international investors. C-level representatives from 25 domestic and foreign investment companies were invited to submit their investment and portfolio strategies to a select group of intelligent, innovative Canadian start-up technology companies.

In the Declaration of Montreal, WITSA pledged to work with all governments, stakeholder organizations and business leaders to support efforts to enable access to the Internet as an open and neutral communication platform so that all citizens can benefit from it.
Amsterdam, Netherlands (2010)

In 2010, the WCIT brought together over 4,000 people from 90 countries in Amsterdam. The event had the theme “Challenges of Change,” which addressed how IT is an enabler of innovation and how to solve issues that hindered its development at the time.

The Declaration of Amsterdam was presented by the Dutch Minister Van der Hoeven (Economic Affairs). Entitled “The Digital Road to Recovery,” the document included commitments to directing the use of ICT to stimulate economic growth and addressed the main challenges, such as climate change, health care, and quality of life. The website http://doa.wcit2010.org was developed to implement the Declaration. This website also contained an Action Forum to involve a board range of stakeholders, occupying over 100 initiatives across the globe. The Declaration of Amsterdam was a first step for the implementation of the Ministerial Declaration of Granada and the EU Digital Agenda, in addition to recommending the support of G20 countries at the summit held in June 2010, in Toronto, Canada.
NEXT EVENTS
- 2016 - Brasilia, Brazil
- 2017 - Taipei, Chinese Taipei
- 2018 - Hyderabad, India
- 2019 - Yerevan, Armenia
- 2020 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 2021 - TBC
OTHER EVENTS
- 2008 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 2006 - Austin, USA
- 2004 - Athens, Greece
- 2002 - Adelaide, Australia
- 2000 - Taipei, Taiwan
- 1998 - Fairfax, Virginia, USA
- 1996 - Bilbao, Spain
- 1994 - Yokohama, Japan
- 1990 - Washington DC, USA
- 1988 - Paris, France
- 1986 - Toronto, Canada
- 1984 - Tokyo, Japan
- 1982 - Copenhagen, Denmark
- 1980 - San Francisco, USA
- 1978 - Barcelona, Spain

Organizers

ASSESPRO

The Brazilian Federation of Information Technology Companies (ASSESPRO) is one of the world’s oldest IT industry associations. Founded in 1976 in Rio de Janeiro, it was the first federation in Brazil created with the aim of discussing demands and seeking joint growth of companies in the industry across the country. In 2015, ASSESPRO will be celebrating its 40^th anniversary, bringing together leading software development and IT companies in Brazil. The Federation is currently present in 15 Brazilian states and has roughly 1,500 members, including domestic private companies in the segments of processing of the largest collections of the Brazilian professional experience, in the area IT out of the scope of guardianship of the state and large private corporations, serving medium and large customers, and countless micro and small companies, totaling 90% of the independent companies in Brazil.

WITSA

Founded in 1978, the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is the leading consortium of ICT industry associations from over 80 countries / economies worldwide. WITSA members represent over 90% of the world ICT market. As the leading voice of the global ICT industry, WITSA aims to drive transformation and grow the industry while advocating international public policies that promote the industry’s growth and development; facilitating trade and investment in ICT products and services through our global contacts network; promoting industrial cooperation and strengthening our national associations through the exchange of knowledge, experience and critical information; working closely with internationally renowned organizations to promote and facilitate growth; and organizing and granting WITSA signature events, such as the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) to member countries from around the world.