DevTernity Conference

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DevTernity is a paid, online software development conference with an emphasis on software architecture, development best practices and technical leadership. The conference runs annually. It was first organized in 2015. [1] The conference was hosted out of Riga, Latvia until 2019. There was no conference in 2020. [2]

From 2021, the conference has been online-only. [3] The 2023 annual conference was cancelled [4] over claims of fake, AI-generated speaker profiles, [5] leading to speakers dropping out. [6]

The conference typically features about 20 speakers.

Controversy

In November 2023, it came to light that DevTernity had been listing fake women speaker profiles [7] on all conferences organized since 2021. [8] Also, Eduards Sizovs, the organizer of the conference, has been found to be the person behind a popular woman in tech Instagram account advertising the conference. [9] [10]

The controversy resulted in widespread backlash against the conference and its organizer. [11] [12] [13] The fake speakers are speculated to have been created to create an illusion of diversity. [14] [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "DevTernity IT conference set to start in Rīga". Latvian Radio. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "DevTernity announces postponing of 2020 conference to 2021". 10 July 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "DevTernity announces online-only format". 22 July 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Claburn, Thomas (28 November 2023). "DevTernity conference collapses amid claims women speakers were faked". The Register. Retrieved 6 December 2023. |
  5. ↑ Gall, Richard (28 November 2023). "Meet 'Anna Boyko': How a Fake Speaker Blew up DevTernity". The New Stack. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Fake AI-generated woman on tech conference agenda leads Microsoft and Amazon execs to drop out". AP News. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Weatherbed, Jess (28 November 2023). "This dev conference organizer seems addicted to making up women". The Verge. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Orosz, Gergely (2 December 2023). "A Tech Conference Listed Fake Speakers for Years: I Accidentally Noticed". Pragmatic Engineer. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Cole, Samantha (27 November 2023). "Founder Is Behind Popular Woman Coding Influencer Account". 404 Media. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Fielding, Sarah (27 November 2023). "A popular female coding influencer's Instagram is apparently run by a man". Endgadget. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  11. ↑ Belanger, Ashley (28 November 2023). "Backlash over fake female speakers shuts down developer conference". Ars Technica. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Lung, Natalie (28 November 2023). "Tech Conference Faces Backlash on Claims of Fake Women Speakers". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Kwan, Wei (28 November 2023). "Microsoft and Amazon Web Services executives are bailing on this tech conference after the organizer was accused of using fake female panelists". Business Insider. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Doyle, Andrea (28 November 2023). "Tech Conference Accused of Creating Fake Women Speakers". Skift Meetings. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Josh, Adams (3 December 2023). "Devternity Developer Conference Invents Fake Female Attendees to Bolster Diversity Credentials". CCN. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
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