Be inspired by standout keynote address

For DrupalCon Amsterdam, we’ve curated keynote speakers who are engaging presenters — and add value to the gathering as a whole. Enhance your professional life by hearing more about differing experiences in tech and open source. These keynotes are only for conference attendees, so we invite you to join us by registering.  

Dr. Sue Black, If I Can Do It, So Can You

1:30pm, Wednesday, October 30

Dr. Sue Black is a professor of computer science and technology evangelist at Durham University; a UK government strategic advisor; an author; and an activist. She led the campaign to save Bletchley Park, the site of the code breakers of the second world war, and has founded two charities: BCSWomen, an online network for women in tech, and #techmums, a social enterprise that empowers mothers and their families through technology.
Her path to becoming who she is today is a riveting story in itself. At the age of 26, Black was a single mother of three living in poverty when she enrolled in a polymath evening course at Southwark College. This launched her career, and today she holds a PhD in software engineering and has 20 years’ experience in academia, along with more than 40 publications to her name.
She will be speaking about how she brought her family out of poverty using education, passion, and a determination to succeed and build her career.
Hailed as “a key voice in an increasingly digital future” by The Independent, Black has won numerous awards, and was named as one of the top 50 women in tech by Forbes in 2018. In 2020, Black will run as the Women’s Equality Party candidate for Mayor of London.

Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Humanity in Tech

1:30pm, Tuesday, October 29

Boris co-founded The Next Web (TNW) and has been its CEO for the past 14 years. He's also a serial internet entrepreneur who also founded V3 Redirect Services (sold), HubHop Wireless Internet Provider (sold), TwitterCounter and pr.co.
Boris dropped out of school at age 14, and went on to graduate from circus school. He also attended art academy and graduated cum laude before starting his first internet company, which he launched in 1997. It was acquired in 1999. In 2005 he founded the first WiFi hotspot service in The Netherlands, which was acquired by Royal Dutch KPN within its first year of existence. Boris co-founded, and was a shareholder in, several other companies and speaks about startups and innovation.
He’ll talk about how the future of technology is not about the bits and bytes or hardware and software, but about the humans behind it; the emotions triggered, the lives that are impacted and the effects on society. Through anecdotes and stories, Boris will illustrate how to be innovative in the digital realm, yet let humanity lead. 

Dries Buytaert, DriesNote

9am, Tuesday, October 29

Drupal founder Dries Buytaert is a pioneer in the open source web publishing and digital experience platform space. As is custom, he will present an engaging keynote, this time focusing on the state of the Drupal project, as well as updates on Drupal 8.8 and the June 2020 Drupal 9 release.

Initiative leads keynote

1:30pm Monday, October 28

In a series of lightning talks, leaders in the Drupal community will talk about challenges overcame, lessons learned and promising horizons. This is a brand new format for DrupalCon, where you will meet the people coordinating some of the biggest improvements in the Drupal community and software: Cristina Chumillas (Lullabot), Wim Leers (Acquia), Fabian Bircher (Nuvole), Tara King (Pantheon), Suzanne Dergacheva (Evolving Web), Greg Anderson (Pantheon), Elli Ludwigson (Open Strategy Partners), Dick Olsson (Pfizer), Sean Blommaert (Freelance) and Ted Bowman (Acquia).