The TechNExt festival will again celebrate the North East’s thriving technology sector this summer.
TechNExt will span five days in June, bringing together thousands of attendees who will share ideas and learn from one another.
Taking place between 16th-20th June, TechNExt will feature everything from curated showcases to community-led fringe events, displaying the diversity, achievements and innovation of the North East’s tech scene.
The event – hosted by a partnership of North East businesses and stakeholders working collaboratively, and led by Dynamo North East CIC and Sunderland Software City working with BeaconHouse Events – is now in its third year, providing an opportunity for the region’s tech community to come together and share best practice.
This year’s programme has been fine-tuned based on feedback from attendees in 2024, with the major change to the festival being the creation of ‘hubs’ where a range of events and sessions will be held in the same location across each day, to allow people to attend more events across the course of the week.
Organisers are calling for organisations in the region’s tech sector to pledge their support and get behind the festival by freeing up their team to engage and attend the TechNExt’s events and activities.
Details of the festival programme are available here. People can help shape the event by proposing a session for one of the new TechNExt Hubs or by submitting their own tech events to form part of the festival fringe.
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The hubs are curated around four themes of Data & AI, Sustainability, Immersive and Tech Start-ups and will be located across the region.
Dr David Dunn, CEO of Dynamo North East, said: “We’re delighted to launch our programme for TechNExt 2025, which promises to be a real celebration of the incredible tech businesses and teams we have in the North East, as well as a great platform to boost collaboration and support people to grow their skills and network.
“We have shaped a programme that is based on feedback from last year, and that responds to the fast-changing sector we’re showcasing. Technology is advancing all the time, and our goal is to ensure that TechNExt creates opportunities for people to stay ahead of that, to learn from each other and to advance the sector in the region.”
Headline festival sponsors include two regionally headquartered tech firms, Leighton and Sage, both returning festival sponsors in 2025.
Last year, more than 3,000 people attended TechNExt over the course of the five-day festival, with people working in tech businesses, as well as tech and digital professionals working in business, all in attendance.
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