The Consumer Electronics Show, one of the most anticipated events for techies, took place last week in Las Vegas. The show boasted 170,000 attendees who convened on the world stage for consumer technology.
Though the number of attendees was slightly lower than last year’s figure, the event showcased an impressive exhibitor list of more than 4,000. Approximately 160 countries were represented, with international participants accounting for nearly one-half of the overall attendees.
Top tech CEOs, government officials, entrepreneurs, and industry experts alike gathered to discuss the impact of technology in a series of panel discussions and open forums covering topics such as artificial intelligence, digital health, the future of 5G networks, and more.
Established in 1967 by its parent company — the Consumer Technology Association — CES represents the core of innovation. The event serves as an incubator for product launches and pioneering partnerships. It also offers technology titans, such as Facebook and Twitter, a pivotal platform for mass communications, while enabling innovators to spread news of their gadgetry through social networks. According to a recent Cnet report, CES also helps Facebook and Twitter respond to the mea culpas that have arisen over the past year. The report indicates that Facebook’s CES appearance provided an opportunity for it to mend fences with Apple, which, prior to this year, had not appeared at the event in nearly three decades, but had been critical of Facebook’s ad targeting methods. Twitter audiences could expect to learn more about changes to the network’s reply policy, as well as its content partnership and sports streaming efforts.
Given the upcoming 2020 presidential election, CES could have also provided social media networks with a much-needed opportunity to discuss hot political topics, including deepfake news, political ads, and privacy.
“CES 2020 inspired and connected every major industry across the globe,” Consumer Technology Association President and CEO, Gary Shapiro, said in a press release.
By virtually all accounts, CES 2020 seems to have been a tremendous success. Given its ability to spark innovation, conversation, and pioneers, CES 2021 is definitely one to watch out for.
