Victoria’s Digital Innovation status bolstered by Magnify World Expo 2018
Annual Magnify World Expo and Business Summit is heading to Melbourne for the first time, as the flagship event of the Victorian Government Digital Innovation Festival.
Magnify World Expo will be held over the first two days of the festival, from 24 – 25 August, which brings together the best augmented and virtual reality entrepreneurs and industry.
It is the leading AR/VR public exhibition and summit in the Asia-Pacific region, creating a unique global networking event that combines fortune500 brands with local start-ups.
Held at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the event offers interactive workshops, panel discussions and demonstrations that foster collaboration and new business opportunities.
Karen Bolinger, Melbourne Convention Bureau CEO said that Melbourne is the ideal city to host such a progressive event.
“VR and AR is being integrated in consumers everyday lives, in unique and unexpected ways across multiple industries.
“Victoria is renowned as an innovative and creative state, with a local community of talent who are pushing the boundaries in what VR and AR can achieve.
“MCB recognised that this event would fit within the digital innovation strategy for the Victorian State Government, and intentionally pursued this event, showcasing the value business events deliver across a range of industries.
“This is the second year in a row MCB has secured the flagship event for the Digital Innovation Festival and part of our ongoing strategy is to secure events that bolster the Governments festival program,” Bolinger concluded.
Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy Philip Dalidakis said he is delighted to have Magnify World Expo in Victoria to help attract the world’s best and brightest tech leaders and connect them with Victorian companies and entrepreneurs at this year’s Digital Innovation Festival.
“Our reputation as a global tech hub is growing and some of the biggest and brightest global companies including Alibaba, Dialog, Square and Cybergym have recently established regional headquarters in Victoria.”
The event is anticipated to deliver over 700 delegates and generate over $2 million in economic contribution for Victoria.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events, John Eren said that Melbourne is setting the pace when it comes to securing and delivering business events.
“Victoria has an enviable reputation for hosting world class events – attracting the highest number of attendees for conferences held in Melbourne.”
“Our MCEC expansion is already paying dividends for our economy by bringing more events to Victoria and creating and supporting local jobs.”
MCEC Chief Executive Peter King said more events were utilising VR and AR in their programming as the supporting technology continues to advance.
“At MCEC, we’re using virtual reality to give our customers a taste of the new spaces we’ll have on offer once our expansion opens in mid-2018,” King said.
“It’s a great way for customers to preview the flexible spaces the expansion will add to our venue, and to visualise how their events could look in future.”
The first day of the summit will feature leading international and local speakers from across film and television, advertising, branding, artificial intelligence and gaming.
The second day is open to the public to experience never seen before AR/VR technologies from an array of local and global companies.
Magnify World head of innovation Matt Coleman says, “bringing the world’s top AR/VR futurists together to Melbourne during the Digital Innovation Festival is a perfect fit.
“Delegates can look forward to meeting experts and educating their team on how to get the best out of this new technology platform tipped to be worth $150 billion in the next 2 years.
“The event has now expanded into North America and Australia in 2018 and we look forward to coming to Melbourne in August.”
Early bird tickets will go on sale in the coming weeks and to register interest go to www.magnifyworld.com
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