16 Mar Cloudfest: Q&A

Cloudfest will be happening at Europa-Park, Germany over the 22-24 March. We speak to Christian Jaeger, CEO, Cloudfest, ahead of the event.

This is the first in-person CloudFest event since the pandemic. What are you most looking forward to?

Seeing all my friends in the community! I’m pretty new as CEO, but I’ve been involved in CloudFest since its earliest days; both as part of the event team and as an attendee. What we’ve been able to do with remote events has been exciting, but we haven’t figured out how to clink beer glasses over Zoom. You have to do that in person.

What’s new for 2022?

We’ve streamlined the registration process, so getting to CloudFest has never been easier. We have some out-of-leftfield surprises lined up in terms of the agenda: Soeren von Varchmin is now the Chairman of the Advisory Committee, so he’s going even deeper into the conference content than we even though was possible! Also, we welcomed some new team members… and some seriously brand-new faces! My wife and I welcomed our second child into the world, so the lack of sleep is definitely getting me ready for March!

How has the team been dealing with the Omicron variant?

We’ve been keeping an eye on each development, and making sure our partners are up to speed on what’s changing. We have plans in place to keep our attendees safe once they arrive at Europa-Park, meeting or exceeding the state and national regulations that will be in place. Meanwhile we’re going full steam ahead to plan an unforgettable experience. We’ve all waited a long time for this!

How did you arrive at this year’s themes? 

The Intelligent Edge, Our Digital Future, and The Sustainable Cloud all serve to focus our energies on the challenges of a post-Covid world. Businesses have digitised in fast-forward, and meanwhile many people’s values have changed as well. At CloudFest we have the chance to bring some of that rediscovered humanity back into technology, which is really cool.

Could you describe these themes a little?

Edge computing is all about moving the data-crunching close to the user, so The Intelligent Edge explores how innovations in each step of that process impact one another, and what that means for the industry as a whole. The Sustainable Cloud is about breaking the cycle of ‘more servers and hardware, more energy’. There are some mind-blowingly creative solutions that are already here, and more to come! As for Our New Digital World, well, we’re creating that ourselves, based on a deep dive into what’s been happening in these past two crazy years.

What makes Europa-Park such a great place for CloudFest?

These are unprecedented times, and that calls for unprecedented focus as well as a double shot of optimism. Europa-Park is this event’s spiritual home, and we all found ourselves missing it a lot. That emotional response doesn’t lie: Europa-Park is a place where magic happens—because together we make it happen. Crazy things happen when so many different types of people with different experiences and backgrounds get together for a week, and don’t leave!

To register to attend visit: www.cloudfest.com.