Aaron Brzozowski
Henry Ford is inarguably one of the most important figures in industrial history. While it’s true that he didn’t quite invent the automobile, he did at least apply to it the practice of the assembly line, allowing for large-scale mass-production and concurrently low cost, making cars for the masses and essentially revolutionizing the way people travel.
It’s fitting, then, that one of Henry Ford’s descendants – Executive Chairman Bill Ford – has been chosen to speak on the opening day of this year’s rather “disruptive” Web Summit in Dublin, Ireland. The annual Web Summit is one of the world’s foremost technology conferences, with this year’s event expected to attract some 22,000 people from 110 different countries from November 3rd through the 5th.
“Web Summit has grown from attracting 400 people in 2010 into being one of the most important gatherings of startups on the planet. Ford was the original disruptor – putting the world on wheels, and we couldn’t wish for a more inspiring and relevant speaker than Bill Ford,” says Web Summit CEO and Co-Founder Paddy Cosgrave.
Additionally, just ahead of the start of the annual Web Summit, Bill Ford will separately address a gathering of developers at a 24-hour SYNC development contest hosted by Ford Motor Company. Starting at 9 am WET in Dublin, registered teams of developers will have just 24 hours to design and build a functional app for Ford’s SYNC infotainment system, with the winning team taking home a €75,000 prize, plus the opportunity to work with Ford to develop future apps.
This will mark the first ever SYNC developer contest in Europe, although similar events have been hosted in Australia, Brazil, China, and the United States.
