Google has also surrendered to the concern that the spread of the coronavirus around the world is awakening. The firm has announced that its biggest event of the year , the Google I / O , will not be held as planned.
The event was to take place in person between May 12 and 14, but for the safety of its attendees, the technology company prefers to suspend it.
“Due to concerns regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) and in accordance with the health guidance of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and others health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I / O event at the Shoreline Aphiteatre ”, explained a company spokesperson.
What about those developers who were going to attend? The company founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin has in mind those who had bought the ticket and ensures that it will give them a full refund before March 13. In addition, those who purchased tickets for this edition of the congress will automatically receive the option to exchange it for a ticket for the Google I / O in 2021.
Traditionally, Google has taken advantage of its conference to publicize its latest products, both in terms of software and hardware . During this appointment, it is common for the firm to announce new changes to Android, updates to services such as Google Maps, new tools, etc.
However, the company plans to hold an entirely digital event in which it could make the announcements it has planned.
The MWC, the event that started it all
Google’s was not the only important technology-themed event that has been canceled for this reason. Facebook announced a few days ago that its annual f8 developer meeting was also suspended.
The same has happened with the Games Developer Conference, a congress for game developers that had been held since 1988 and that was to take place in mid-March.
Microsoft has also done the same with its MVP Summit, a networking event for professionals scheduled to take place in a couple of weeks. The Redmond company has decided to suspend the in-person celebration, but has decided to host a virtual event instead.
Other meetings within the ICT sector that have been canceled due to the coronavirus have been the Shopify developer conference in Toronto, the Facebook Global Marketing in San Francisco, the EmTech in Singapore, the Google News Initiative Global Summit in Sunnyvale or the Enterprise World Europe 2020 from OpenText in Prague.
The main technological event canceled before the outbreak spread outside China was the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which was to take place at the end of February. Two weeks earlier LG announced that it would not attend as a precaution, a decision that followed multiple casualties from other companies, including telecommunications operators. Finally, the GSMA communicated that the event would not be held this year.
