Berlin, 19. November 2015 Berlin is not a centre for IT start-ups, but it is in high demand for meetings and conferences on digital themes: this year saw more than 50 events held in the German capital that focused on global digitalisation issues. That's an average of one conference a week.

One recent important event was the Data Natives conference on 19 and 20 November. International IT experts gathered to hear talks on topics such as big data and the internet of things, which includes intelligent clothing and accessories such as internet-connected watches, so called "wearables". Participants and speakers at Data Natives included representatives from Google and SAP, among others.

2016 highlight: the Next Hacker programming competition

This year's Berlin Web Week in May bundled more than 20 conferences on hot topics related to the digital society such as the processing of the huge amounts of data currently collected from users of networked devices such as smartphones. The heart of Web Week is the re:publica conference about Web 2.0 and social media.

More than a third of this year's events will be returning to Berlin in 2016. In addition to the tenth edition of re:publica in May, the Next Hacker programming contest is coming to the city 26 and 27 February. The competition is expected to draw 3,000 participants to the city and is sure to be one of the biggest digital events in the coming year.

For more information about Berlin as a meeting destination, go to convention.visitBerlin.com.