GreenTech Forum Brussels, an international ambition

This event will bring together more than 40 exhibitors and 750 attendees. On the program: 20 conferences and 12 workshops led by almost 100 speakers. Participants and companies come from different countries, Belgium of course but also all around Europe. The ambition was from the beginning to be international.

Produced in less than six months, the event creates emulation. “A lot of people want to participate”, enthuses Olivier Vergeynst, Director of the Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT (ISIT-BE). The ISIT-BE is one of the 3 co-organisers. They are accompanied by sustAIn.brussels, a European digital innovation hub in Brussels. And because of the French origin of GreenTech Forum, the third co-organiser is Numeum, the professional organisation for the digital ecosystem in France, represented by its program Planet Tech’Care.

Genesis of the event

The project began with a number of meetings. “There were discussions with several organisations and public services in the Brussels region such as hub.brussels, Paradigm, The Shift, Bruxelles Environnement and sustAIn.brussels (which regroups several actors like 2 universities in Brussels, ULB and VUB, and also Agoria, the Belgian equivalent of Numeum),” describes Olivier Vergeynst.

Everyone wanted to organise an event around sustainability in IT and by IT, initially planning to do it separately, with specific formats that served different purposes. As Thierry Chappe from Paradigm and Olivier Vergeynst were already in discussions to organise a joint event, the idea of getting together with all partners for a single, larger event quickly arose.

From there, they approached GreenTech Forum Paris to get their feedback on how to organise an event of this type. It was from this discussion that the idea of creating a GreenTech Forum in Brussels was born.

Olivier Vergeynst continues: “Right from the start, we set ourselves the goal of a European event. Of course, this will be particularly important from the second year onwards, but we are putting in place the necessary measures to give the event an international dimension”. European institutional players such as the German SDIA and the Dutch NCDD will be present. The Swiss Institute for Sustainable IT, the Swiss counterpart to ISIT-BE, will also be there. The speakers come from several European countries.

“We wanted to avoid having only French speakers or companies! It was a real challenge because France is dynamic on this subject and we didn't want to replicate GreenTech Forum Paris.” adds Olivier Vergeynst. To achieve this, the organisers set themselves two objectives: to have at least 50% Belgian organisations present and to have other countries represented outside Belgium. Both objectives were met. The last key success factor was the official language of the show. “The best way to achieve an international dimension is to give the forum that dimension from the outset,” explains Olivier Vergeynst, “which is why the event is held 100% in English”.

The co-organisers

The Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT (ISIT-BE) is a think and do tank founded in 2020, based on its French equivalent the Institut du Numérique Responsable. The aim of this non-profit association is to bring together Belgian companies, organisations and individuals, and help them succeed in their digital transition while reducing the environmental and social footprint of their IT services and usages.

For ISIT-BE, it was essential to be part of the GreenTech project. The institute has been working on the subject in Belgium since 2020. “We are very proud to be taking the subject forward and happy to be taking a leading role in this project” says Olivier Vergeynst, “I'm impressed with what we've managed to achieve. I'm very pleased. It's a lot of work, but you can feel that a lot of people are interested”.

Second organiser of the event, sustAIn.brussels serves as a single point of access to sustainable and digital innovation in Brussels with a focus on AI and other emerging technologies. SustAIn.brussels is considered as a European Digital Innovation Hub in Brussels set up with the support of the European Commission, Innoviris and hub.brussels. The coordination of the Hub is done by Sirris, Agoria, BeCentral, VUB and ULB.

Among the different missions of sustAIn.brussels, networking occupies a particularly important place. « Our aim is to help companies meet the ecosystem, take part in showcases, experiments, networking events and access all the services available to them, as well as finding ways to obtain funding » explains Ludwig de Locht, project manager at sustAIn.brussels and Digital Transformation expert. For him, “it was also obvious for sustAIn.brussels to be part of this new adventure. For the event, we expect a lot of networking between companies but also between companies and administrations”.

Planet Tech'Care, the third co-organiser, is an initiative of Numeum focusing on digital and the environment. GreenTech Forum Paris is organised under the patronage of Planet Tech'Care. This initiative is first and foremost a manifesto that any organisation can sign to show its commitment to a more responsible digital future and to make a date. It's also a collective of more than 50 partner and ambassador associations, and nearly 1,000 organisations who have signed the manifesto. It also includes an online programme of workshops on responsible digital practices run by the partners and dedicated to the signatories.

“When the idea of GreenTech Forum Brussels was first mooted, it was obvious to us that it should be led by local players” explains Virginie Royer, General Delegate for Sustainable IT at Numeum and Planet Tech’Care. The ISIT-BE were the first to commit to the organisation, before being joined by sustAIn.brussels. “Moving forward together was an obvious way of promoting sustainable IT, but it is also essential to respect the specific characteristics of each region” adds Virginie Royer, “and I would like to pay tribute to the work carried out and the investment made by Olivier Vergeynst and Ludwig de Locht”.

“The mission of Planet Tech'Care is really to federate and bring together all the players who want to mobilise to accelerate their trajectory towards a more eco-responsible digital world”, Virginie Royer continues, “we're doing this in France, but from the outset there was an ambition at European level. GreenTech Forum Brussels has become the link that will enable us to do this.”

The conferences

To put together the conferences, the organisers relied on a program committee made up of various players from several European countries and of different types (private, public, academic);  a mix of 14 people including Virginie Royer to benefit from her experience of GreenTech Forum Paris. A total of 20 conferences and 12 workshops will be held on 18 and 19 June. “We received around 150 applications to become a speaker. It's a great success” says a delighted Olivier Vergeynst.

“The content of the conferences is primarily geared towards Green IT and IT for Green, and tackles issues of social responsibility and accessibility, particularly through CDR [Corporate Digital Responsibility] and through regulations” adds Olivier Vergeynst, “Artificial intelligence is also one of the topics on the agenda, so we couldn't miss it”. Several conferences are planned on this subject.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a subject dear to sustAIn.brussels, one of whose missions is to develop its adoption by businesses. “Some of the companies exhibiting or speaking at the GreenTech Forum Brussels have really nice solutions with AI. They have a clear view of sustainability in their mission, but also a daily practice, it can be very inspiring for companies visiting the exhibition” points out Ludwig de Locht (sustAIn.brussels).

“It’s only the first year! It represents a lot of work but it’s very exciting!” concludes Ludwig de Locht, “there is some media attention ; attention is on LinkedIn too. We are on track for the number of registrations and we see that it’s a topic that gets interest also in Brussels and beyond. It’s really catching up!”.

Ludwig de Locht is Project manager at sustAIn.brussels and Digital Transformation Ambassador at Sirris. He leads the organisation of GreenTech Forum Brussels for sustAIn.brussels and is part of the event program committee.

Olivier Vergeynst is the executive director of the Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT (ISIT-BE). He leads the organisation of GreenTech Forum Brussels for ISIT-BE and is the president of the event program committee.

Virginie Royer is the General Delegate for Sustainable IT at Numeum and Planet Tech’Care. Like she does for GreenTech Forum Paris, she leads the organisation of GreenTech Forum Brussels for Numeum and Planet Tech’Care and is part of the event program committee.