10th Annual Re:publica Conference Opens

Members of the industry, from bloggers and journalists to politicians and celebrities have descended upon Germany's capital city for the three-day conference which calls itself "Europe's most exciting conference on internet and society." Hundreds of panels and presentations cover topics from how robots will change the world of work to what role social media plays in supporting African dictators. The program has something for everyone active in Germany's internet and media industry landscape.

One of the most talked-about speakers is infamous whistleblower Edward Snowden who will most likely give his speech via video conference from his exile in Russia. Also expected at the media convention are the Director of Deutsche Welle, Peter Limbourg, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger (CDU) and Twitter's Vice President Mark Little as well as German actor Matthias Schweighöfer.

Re.publica has come a long way over the last decade. Originally conceived by the blogs Spreeblick and Netzpolitik.org as a meet-up for other like-minded people to discuss the exchange between Web 2.0 and society, the conference has grown from 700 visitors in 2007 to 7000 today. With many of the presentations being filmed, the conference's reach will broaden to include people the world over as presentations are made available on social media channels like Twitter and YouTube.

With a growth in its importance, the conference has likewise served as a platform for major announcements over the years. This year is no exception, as the jury members from Deutsche Welle's Best of the Blogs (Bobs) team will announce the winners of the 2016 prize in a special presentation at 12 noon CET on Monday (5.2.2016).

cat/rb (dpa/afp)