The latest IT trends, industry authorities, and continuous knowledge exchange marked the recently held 9Inspiration conference, organized by Levi9. It was an opportunity for the broader IT community to learn something new, expand their network, and debate with industry professionals, as previously covered by HelloWorld.rs.
Mirko Tomić, a Mobile Developer and member of the team that developed the conference’s iOS app, brings us the key takeaways from the lectures.
The Role of Hackers in Reporting Security Flaws
One of the highlights of the 9Inspiration conference, according to Mirko, was the lecture by Edwin van Andel from the Netherlands. Edwin started hacking at 13 and is now the CTO of Zerocopter, focusing on enhancing cybersecurity through ethical (white hat) hacking. He is well-known and respected in the hacking community for guiding young hackers towards contributing positively to society’s security. Mirko notes that Edwin’s presentation was dynamic and intriguing, aptly titled: “How to break the police bodycams for fun and pizza?”
“Edwin talked about his efforts to establish responsible disclosure regulations in the Netherlands, allowing hackers to report security flaws to the government or companies without fear of legal repercussions,” explains Mirko.
Edwin also discussed the public-private partnership where Zerocopter was engaged to check for security flaws in devices used by the police, such as body cameras and GPS trackers.
“This lecture highlighted the role of ethical hacking in identifying and fixing flaws, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between hackers and public institutions to enhance public service security,” explains Mirko.
All Levi9 employees, even those who did not attend the 9Inspiration conference, had the opportunity to watch this lecture as it was part of the annual Secure9 event dedicated to cybersecurity. Secure9 is a thematic conference held since 2019, aimed at Levi9 employees, clients, and alumni across all Levi9 offices. Edwin’s lecture was live-streamed in the Netherlands, Romania, and Ukraine from the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, promoting cybersecurity and protecting Levi9 services and clients.
The Future of Augmented Reality
Levi niner Žolt Varga, a Mobile Software Architect, shifted from security issues to the topic of augmented reality with his excellent lecture, “Trends and the Future of Augmented Reality.”
“Žolt detailed the evolution, functioning, and future perspectives of Augmented Reality (AR) – an interactive experience combining the real-world and computer-generated content. He discussed applications, underlying technology, and the future of devices and user experiences,” explains Mirko.
“Augmented Reality (AR) is a rapidly developing technology with the potential to significantly impact our daily lives and business operations, changing how we experience the world around us.”
You can watch Žolt’s full lecture at this link.
AI: Everything Starts and Ends with Data
Luka Aničin, founder of Datablooz, also shared his knowledge at the 9Inspiration conference through his lecture, “Let’s walk together through an AI project.” Over the last six years, Luka has been researching machine learning, the foundation of artificial intelligence.
“From his presentation, we understood how complex it is to maintain machine learning projects,” says Mirko Tomić. Success in these projects depends not only on the application of algorithms but also requires continuous adaptation. The quality of data and its proper use are particularly crucial. Results must be constantly monitored, algorithms tracked, and models continuously improved.
As Aničin demonstrated, “Everything starts and ends with data. If the data is inaccurate or biased, even the best algorithm will produce poor results,” sums up Mirko, reflecting the main message of Luka Aničin’s lecture, which you can view here.
Micro Frontends and Island Architectures
A guest from Germany, Florian Rappl, a Solution Architect from Munich, gave a lecture titled “Multiple Ships to the Island – Micro Frontends & Island Architectures.”
“Florian touched on the topic of microfrontend architecture systems,” notes Mirko, adding that Florian highlighted the advantages of process distribution, development scaling, and performance improvement in web applications.
“His message was that combining microfrontend architectures can enhance the efficiency and scalability of web application development. These approaches enable better work distribution, performance improvement, and development scaling. Additionally, implementing such strategies is facilitated by the ability to separate teams working on the same system,” reports Mirko.
Three Reasons to Attend the 9Inspiration Conference
The 9Inspiration conference offers an opportunity to spend a day with renowned experts from the IT industry and is therefore highly beneficial.
“The insights and knowledge we gain help us improve our skills and better understand our industry, regardless of our specialization. The connections we make open new opportunities and bring new collaborators. Personally, it’s also important to me that through donations to NURDOR, we have the chance to contribute to the entire community and do something good,” says Mirko Tomić.
As he recalls, Levi9 also organized the 9inspiration conference in 2022. For him, it was one of those experiences that inspire and open various perspectives, where enthusiasm for our work was palpable at every step.
“From that first conference, I would highlight the keynote lecture by Sigurdur Birgisson and Gojko Adžić from IKEA, ‘Tangible Software Quality,’ as well as the lecture ‘Thinking Serverless in your Architecture’ by Alex DeBrie.”
Levi niners, including Mirko Tomić, have no doubts. They look forward to the next gathering.
“The conference not only provides a platform for exchanging ideas and knowledge but also offers the opportunity for colleagues from other companies to learn about our work and establish connections that can be important for further personal and professional development,” adds Mirko.
This year again, Levi9 covered the conference organization costs, while the revenue from ticket sales was donated to the National Association of Parents of Children with Cancer (NURDOR), just like the previous time.
The collected funds are directed towards building a new Parent House in Belgrade. This association has so far managed to organize and launch five parent houses – in Niš, Novi Sad, and three in Belgrade.
Program Designed by Levi9 Delivery Directors
Levi niners proudly highlight that two Delivery Directors from their company – Mirjana Kolarov and Mirjana Trobok – were responsible for the 9Inspiration conference program. Besides their role, the two Mirjanas had a shared goal in creating the program – for everyone to leave better than they arrived at the conference, with more information and better prepared for new professional challenges.
When something good is prepared for the community, support is never lacking. Thus, the Yugoslav Drama Theatre gladly provided the venue for the conference, for which Levi9 is immensely grateful. The conference was also supported by HelloWorld.rs, Nedeljnik, Heineken, Coca-Cola HBC, and Maxi.
Lastly, Levi9 intends to continue sharing knowledge and connecting professionals this 2024. This is also an invitation for everyone who wants to attend this year’s 9Inspiration conference to share their thoughts on whether they prefer learning during a workday or on a Saturday.
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