Our Recap of T3CON24!

The stage was finally set to get things underway, and attendees entering the venue were met with an exhibitor area filled with booths from TYPO3 partner agencies, along with the German government’s GSB 11, whose staff had a booth in the area. 

Of course, no T3CON would be complete without the strong presence of both the TYPO3 Association, as well as TYPO3 GmbH. The organization’s corporate and non-profit wings, which had exhibiting sections facing each other, stood out with displays that showcased the noteworthy work TYPO3 partners have done for public sector clients, with visual case studies grabbing the attention of attendees. When visitors stopped by the booth to talk to representatives of the GmbH or of the Association, they were met with a team of employees eager to share information on the great work being done for public sector organizations using TYPO3. 

From the new booth messaging, featuring the ‘Fast, Scalable, Secure’ USP’s the GmbH has highlighted, to the information brochures offered by the Association, detailing how TYPO3 supports digital sovereignty, and featuring examples of real-life cases of building a state’s digital infrastructure with the CMS, as was the case in Rwanda, there was plenty of information for guests to familiarize themselves with. 

To set the stage for the day ahead, the TYPO3 GmbH team, led by Daniel Fau, Frank Nägler, and Luisa Faßbender held the morning’s first keynote, “TYPO3 for the Public Sector and Education - A Status Quo”, where they presented a host of interesting facts and figures documenting the extent of TYPO3’s presence within government and higher education institutions, including usage statistics and insights into upcoming trends. 

This keynote presentation was followed up by Stephan Schmidt of TCI Rechtsanwälte who shared insights into using EVB-IT Cloud and similar legal contracts as a toolbox for TYPO3 projects, and ways to minimize risk, creating a clear contractual basis for implementing successful IT projects for the public sector. Afterwards, Florian Froideuvaux of in2code held a Lightning Talk on how marketing automation can enable more teams to make the most out of their website budgets and make data driven decisions. 

With the excitement surrounding the roll-out of GSB11 dominating the conversations at the conference, the afternoon’s panel discussion on the topic captured the attention of attendees. Panelists included members of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI), along with ITZBund shed light on the specific requirements the German government had for a CMS, along with the special importance of accessibility in guiding those requirements and shaping the demands of the project. 

With the first day's events taking place primarily in German, the organizers looked into ways to make sure that the topics discussed and information shared would be accessible to everyone. With several attendees coming from outside the DACH region, having T3CON24 be as inclusive as possible was a top priority. 

To address this challenge, there was a real time audio translation service available throughout the first day, where keynotes would be translated, ensuring that the essence of each presentation could be captured by all attendees. 

Another special aspect of the entire conference were the graphic recordings by Anja von Klitzing. Returning to T3CON after her appearance last year, her live illustrations of each of the keynote presentations were an eye catching way to capture the essence of each talk, ensuring a memorable experience for the speaker, but also a way to visually encapsulate each keynote. Anja worked tirelessly for three days to deliver some truly fantastic illustrations, and we thank her once more for her contribution.

The session reached its final day, and after two days of exciting talks, the last day began with Markus Hartmann exploring alternative methods of pricing for developers. His keynote, titled ‘Pricing without Hourly Rates and Cost Accounting’, proposed putting customers at the core of pricing with a results oriented approach to pricing that benefits all parties involved as it limits overhead for developers. 

Julia Leusig and Marie Reckendrees of shopware AG were up next with their keynote, offering insights into how AI and spatial commerce can transform our shopping experience and redefine our understanding of consumption. This keynote was followed by an eagerly awaited Lightning Talk by TYPO3 Ambassador Mathias Bolt Lesniak that explored the magic of open source in government and the public sector. The talk featured guest appearances from representatives from Mohamed Shafi Yusuf, the Director of E-Governance at the Ministry of Communications of Somalia, and Thomas Wiemann, the Government Digitization Manager of Rwanda, two countries at the forefront of the public sector adoption of TYPO3 outside of Germany. Their input was especially intriguing, sharing lived experiences from TYPO3 adoption and the promotion of open source solutions in the global south. 

That talk was followed by a keynote session from mittwald representatives Martin Helmich and Maximilian Hafer, who provided insights into the future of tech roles, and the importance of preparing teens to be creators, not just consumers. This talk included the introduction of codefryx, a programed aimed at identifying and fostering tech talent. 

AI has become an increasingly important part of our lives in recent years. From its business applications to its convenience for personal tasks, understanding AI and leveraging its potential applications is a necessity to navigate a world where it will continue playing a major role. In his keynote, ‘The AI revolution has started: How to leverage AI in an ever more competitive business world’, Prof. Dr. Patrick Glauner stated his case for how best to leverage AI, and discussed new legislative frameworks from the EU, namely the European AI act.

Cyberattacks can happen at any moment, and don’t discriminate in terms of their targets. Jochen Weiland (jweiland GmbH) Lightning Talk shed light on the extent to with companies and governments are at risk of cyber attacks and explored practical steps developers can take to pre-emptively mitigate the risk of irreparable losses, including through emergency site setup, HTML backups, and more. 

Finally, Daniel Fau and Luisa Faßbender closed the day’s events with the final keynote address of the conference, covering the current state of TYPO3. The presentation was a look back at key milestones achieved over the past year, along with a look ahead to what’s still to come, outlining a clear vision for the future and the continued evolution of the content management system.