Brussels event showcases new wave of young entrepreneurs

Makerstown celebrates young start-ups applying new technology to old manufacturing traditions

Fifty of Europe's brightest and best young entrepreneurs will be converging on Brussels this week to show off their latest ingenious inventions, in a new event that aims to celebrate innovation from all over the EU.

Up to 1,000 visitors are expected at the first-ever Makerstown event, on Tuesday, which is part of the European Maker Movement and is a pre-launcher to a week-long European Commission initiative beginning on 30 May.

Co-organised by ThinkYoung, a Brussels-based organisation that lobbies on youth affairs, and the Wilfred Martens Centre for European Studies, the event will consist of an innovators exhibition and a simultaneous conference discussing the challenges and opportunities concerning these young "makers".

"A maker is a person who applies new technology to old manufacturing traditions, using the tools of the 21st century to take this further, such as working with drones, life-sized robots and 3D prints,” says Ioana Lung from the Martens Centre, the political think-tank for the EU Parliament’s European People’s Party.

“We want the event to have as broad a spectrum as possible with a variety of makers. Some countries are more specialised in certain industries than others”, she adds.

Read more at TheBulletin.be

Makerstown, 24 May at The Square, Brussels. Register for free at www.makerstown.eu