Bristol Technology Festival returns this October

Bristol Technology Festival (BTF) is back once again, bringing an array of events across the city delivered for and by our tech community. This year TechSPARK will be running the festival to showcase the amazing feats of technological innovation, talent and sense of community that Bristol is home to. Making all of this possible are this year’s fantastic community partners.

Image: Bristol Technology Festival 

From 10-14 October 2022, Bristol Technology Festival will host a series of over 50 social events, encouraging everyone to participate through interactive seminars, workshops and activity spread across the city.

Each day of the festival will represent a different theme: Purpose, Protect, People, Play, Pioneer. These themes will span the depth and breadth of what Bristol’s technology and digital community has to offer, encompassing everything from Green Tech companies innovatively tackling the climate crisis, to smart AI solutions cyber security to truly demonstrate the vibrancy of our sector. 

What to expect from Bristol Technology Festival 

Bristol Technology Festival was first launched in 2019 by a small group of tech enablers, movers and shakers, with the ambition to collate a series of events in the space of a week. The event was a huge hit, attracting an audience from across the country, and putting Bristol’s technology scene on a pedestal. 

After a couple of pandemic-disrupted years which meant adapting the format to remote and hybrid models, the organisers are relieved to be bringing the festival back in-person, and provide a chance for attendees to connect with one another. 

Events throughout the festival are crowdsourced from organisations across the city. These include technology companies, public bodies, schools, community interest groups and charities. They are open to people in the technology sector, business leaders, visitors wanting to know more about the region, and anyone wanting to know more about the city’s digital industries.

These groups are also encouraged to make their ideas for keynotes, workshops, or panels which align with any of the five themes a reality by hosting an event. 

Breaking down the themes 

Purpose: Monday will focus on Technology for Good and the emerging business that are challenging the status quo. From MetTech to ClimaTech, this day will showcase powerful solutions and ideas to build a better world for the future.

Protect: Tuesday’s aim is to highlight the importance of building resilience and protecting our communities. From developing new preventative health care to building ethical AI to understanding the value of our Cyber sector, this day is about tech to help help safeguard people.

People: Wednesday explores one of the biggest challenges technology businesses in the city are facing – attracting, retaining and up-skilling world-class tech talent. We will hear about the strategies and tactics to better serve businesses in the city.

Play: Thursday will be looking towards our exciting gaming and creative cluster, showcasing projects and technologies from the VR/AR/MR and Create-Tech industry. This day will focus on the convergence of technology, gaming and the creative sector.

Pioneer: The last day of the festival focuses on some of the game-changing research, development and technologies coming out of the city. The aim is to promote the depth of original thinkers and businesses now competing on an international stage.

As part of this year’s Protect day, TechSPARK will be hosting the Bristol & Bath Cyber Conference 2022, which is returning for the first time since 2019. Attendees can expect a day full of workshops, hackathons, panel debates and 15+ industry leading speakers. This is the region's largest cyber collective, designed to support those working in the industry, and celebrate the most innovative cyber startups.

You can secure yourself a space at the conference, and find out more about the event here. Speakers will be announced soon, so keep your eyes peeled!