Update 2 (5/19/20 @ 4:50 PM ET): Google Cloud Next 2020 will be back as a digital event spanning 9 weeks starting July 14th.
Update 1 (3/17/20 @ 4:00 PM ET): Google Cloud Next 2020 has been indefinitely delayed.
The ongoing coronavirus outbreak, now called COVID-19, has infected over 89,000 people globally with the global death toll surpassing 3,000. Not only has the virus had an adverse effect on the global supply chain, but it has also resulted in several major events being canceled. For instance, the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona this month was canceled due to the growing coronavirus threat, with a number of companies pulling out of the event even before it was officially canceled. Earlier this month, Chinese OEM Xiaomi hosted an online-only launch event for its flagship Mi 10 series as a preventive measure and that seems to be the only course of action for other companies going forward. As per a recent blog post from Google, the company's upcoming Cloud Next 2020 event will also be an online-only affair.
The event, which is scheduled for April 6-8, will now feature streamed keynotes, breakout sessions, interactive learning and digital "ask an expert" session with Google teams without the risk of travel. Google has also waived off the registration fee for the event and all the attendees who had already registered will be getting a refund. The in-person bootcamp at Next 2020 stands canceled and those who had registered for it will also be getting a full refund from the company. Those who had registered for certification testing are now required to contact Google's dedicated certification support team and reschedule their certification visit or arrange a refund as needed. Additionally, Google will also be canceling all attendees' hotel reservations made through the conference website. As of now, the company is planning a packed agenda with "hundreds of sessions" for the upcoming Google Cloud Next '20: Digital Connect event and will be releasing additional details about the sessions on the Next '20 website in the coming weeks.
Update 1: Indefinitely Delayed
After changing the event to be online-only to help slow the spread of coronavirus, Google is now delaying Cloud Next 2020 indefinitely. The original event was scheduled for April and Google initially said they would hold a multi-day "digital-first" event in its place. Google is now saying it is "fully committed to bringing Google Cloud Next ‘20: Digital Connect to life, but will hold the event when the timing is right.” We will update this post when there is news about when that might be.
Source: Google
Update 2: Next OnAir
Google Cloud Next was originally switched to a digital format back in March around the time when COVID-19 became a pandemic. It was later delayed indefinitely, but now Google is bringing back the digital format. Now called Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir, the 9-week event will begin on July 14th. Each week will explore a new topic:
- Industry Insights: Insights from Google Cloud executives, focusing on transformational efforts across industries working with customers and ecosystem partners.
- Productivity & Collaboration: Change the way teams work with solutions designed for humans and built for impact.
- Infrastructure: Migrate and modernize workloads on Google’s global, secure, and reliable infrastructure.
- Security: Detect, investigate, and respond to online threats to help protect your business.
- Data Analytics: Generate instant insights from data at any scale with a serverless, fully managed analytics platform that significantly simplifies analytics.
- Data Management & Databases: Migrate and manage enterprise data with security, reliability, high availability, and fully managed data services.
- Application Modernization: Develop and run applications using open source and other software without operations staff.
- Cloud AI: Add intelligence and efficiency to your business with AI and machine learning.
- Business Application Platform: Design, secure, analyze, and scale APIs anywhere with visibility and control.
Those who were already registered for the event are automatically signed up for the OnAir 9-week event. New registrations are open today for free.
Source: Google