For the first time ever, the largest conference on the internet and digital society in Europe will leave its home in Berlin this year and come to Dublin. Since 2007, re:publica has taken place annually in Berlin over three days in May and welcomed for its tenth anniversary in 2016 more than 8,000 visitors and 770 international speakers from 60 countries.

Issues like net politics, digital rights and the development of the digital society concern all of us, say the event's organisers, which is why re:publica will be held outside Berlin for the first time on 20 October next in Dublin. At the one-day conference participants can come together and discuss a wide range of topics related to the digital society and the internet.

Andreas Gebhard, CEO of re:publica, said: “We look forward to linking the German and international community in Dublin and to expanding our horizons. Berlin and Dublin have a lot in common! We want to highlight that, and point towards where this might be heading in future.”

Gebhard is calling for participants and for topics to be submitted for discussion.

“The Call for Participation for re:publica Dublin is divided into three stages. Anyone submitting a topic in the next two weeks will immediately be in the first round. The second deadline is August 17 and the final deadline on August 31. More information about the Call for Participation is on our website,” he said.

In Association with

The first re:publica abroad will be smaller than the Berlin conference. While at re:publica in May 2016 more than 500 hours of content over three days offered comprehensive insights into current issues and projects, there is a more condensed programme for Dublin. In this way, visitors in Ireland will get an impression of what the digital society means for the community.

re:publica brings together more than 8,000 participants to discuss the issues of the contemporary digital society. Bloggers meet with politicians, scientists with entrepreneurs, artists with activists, and the main focus of the conference is to present the opportunities and benefits of new technologies in various areas of society, while simultaneously taking a critical look behind the scenes. It is about providing evaluations in the long term and also making suggestions for the future.

Net Politics

The Dublin conference, as always, will focus also on net politics. Current political developments are illuminated, debated and scrutinised by experts from the digital sphere. This includes further areas of policy such as European politics (e.g. #Brexit). But the organisers are also expecting topics from fields like urban development and sustainability, such as water and housing issues in Dublin, coming from its Call for Participation.

And re:publica, Gebhard said, includes far more beyond these focus topics. “It is a lively display of various aspects of digital society, pop and hacker culture – be it inclusion, hate speech on the internet, the Maker movement, or Social Media Marketing: all exciting, remarkable or surprising net topics are welcome here.”