The Malta Communications Authority, in collaboration with the TakeOff Business Incubator and a number of key players on the tech start-up scene are working together to launch Zest, Malta’s biggest digital business event.
Spread over two days, the event will feature two parallel programmes – one focusing on disruptive trends and the other on start-ups. Zest will feature a tech demo space, a buzzing network piazza, a hip co-working space, and for those who want to take the networking opportunity to the next level, the Zest after-party, which will also include some additional surprises.
The event’s theme is ‘breaking borders’. What this refers to is the blurring of lines between industries, professions and countries or regions.
This is particularly relevant today because of the way every industry is being disrupted and reshaped. Taxi companies, media firms and tour operators are no longer recognised in the traditional sense.
Uber, Netflix and Airbnb have undoubtedly changed the rules. From the professional services perspective, marketers are no longer viewed as the creatives, but rather as numbers people, coders, or even scientists. Even the sharpest financial advisers are now challenged by the perfection of artificial intelligence and the consistency of automation. Zest will challenge this idea and question whether professionals share the same faith of telegraphists in the post-Victorian era.
Yet Zest will also expose the silver lining. In 2016, Malta is no longer a remote island but rather a buzzing nimble place for global disruptive ventures.
Thought leaders coming from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Gartner, Forbes, Leo Burnett and Techstars, to mention but a few, will add flavour to the discussion
Leading the discussion will be an extraordinary line-up of international and locally renowned speakers most of which are at the helm of such disruptive endeavours. Remarkable companies that will feature at Zest include Funderbeam, which is focused on merging crowdfunding with stock exchange models; Jobbatical, aimed at bridging the places where people live and work; and Leaf Music, aspiring to take marketing and lead generation to a completely new level.
Thought leaders coming from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Gartner, Forbes, Leo Burnett and Techstars, to mention but a few, will add flavour to the discussion. Zest will also showcase local disrupters such as Hotjar, the fastest growing analytics company in the world.
Disrupting borders takes a new meaning when the Mediterranean region is discussed. With a particular focus on North Africa and the Middle East, input from players such as Flat6Labs, the largest seed fund in the area, is expected to bring new perspectives and twists to the discussion.
Zest is also about inspiration, creativity, ingenuity and enterprise. The programme will feature Jack Cator, founder of HideMyAss, who became a millionaire at the age of just 16 by misbehaving at school. Reinhold Karner, a success adviser and mentor, will bring ingenuity and invaluable insight on the disruptive traits we are witnessing today. Inspiration also comes from the never tiring Nathan Farrugia who has no boundaries to his aspirations and the impact he leaves on the people around him.
Zest is taking place at the Westin Dragonara, on June 27, 28.
It is not your typical suit and tie conference. Rather it takes a no-nonsense, informal, ‘let’s do business’ attitude, compatible with the energetic audience typically engaged in the scene.
For more information about the event and tickets, visit www.zest.org.mt. An early bird offer expires on June 10.