East-West Digital News 4 June 2012
Two major international tech events took place on May 28 and 29 in Moscow, nearly simultaneously and almost in the same location, a former chocolate factory in center town. The first was the legendary DLD Conference, making its Moscow debut, and the second event was an international startup and investor conference named “42.”
The events complemented each other rather than competing: by attending their programs over the two day period, guests were provided with one of the richest event experiences of the year.
The idea to set up DLD in Moscow originated in the IT cluster of Skolkovo, the state-sponsored tech hub nearing completion near the Russian capital, as part of its bid to assert itself on the global innovation map. But the conference started with a poetic evocation of Russia’s pre-high tech past by DLD Chairman Yossi Vardi. Recalling the favorite songs of the Israeli youth of the 50s, he started singing ‘Kalinka,’ with the attendees joining their voices in an improvised chorus. “Russia is now more than ‘Kalinka,’ it is also about great innovations,” Skolkovo President Viktor Vekselberg replied.
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