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Tech conference calendar for 2020 and 2021: What's cancelled, what's not and what's digital due to COVID-19

Tech conferences for most of 2020 and the first part of 2021 have been canceled, postponed, or turned into virtual events as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Written by Bill Detwiler, Contributor

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic in March 2020, and its affects on public health and the global economy are unmistakable.

As of October 2020, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University on COVID-19 cases show over 41,000,000 cases and more than 1,120,000 deaths worldwide. In the US, officials have reported over 8,300,000 cases and over 220,000 deaths from the COVID-19 disease.

In response to the pandemic, governments around the world enacted travel bans, promoted and in some cases required social distancing measures, and passed stimulus packages designed to mitigate the public health and economic fallout from the outbreak. Despite these measures, COVID-19 has had a profoundly negative affect on the global economy and the tech sector, particularly when it comes to industry events. Whether as a result of travel bans, laws banning large gatherings, or an abundance of caution, tech conferences have been canceled, postponed, or converted to virtual events.

The following is a list of tech events that have been called off, pushed back, or changed format as a result of COVID-19.

SEE: 2021 IT budget research report: COVID-19's impact on projects and priorities  (TechRepublic Premium) 

2021 Tech conferences calendar

2020 Tech conferences canceled, postponed, or going virtual

Note: We will do our best to update this list as news of conference cancellations in released through out the rest of 2020 and into 2021.

O'Reilly Media closes in-person events division amid coronavirus outbreak

Beyond the temporary conference rescheduling and virtual shifts, COVID-19 has also had a more permanent affect on tech events. On March 24, 2020, Laura Baldwin, President of O'Reilly Media, announced that the company was shuttering its in-person events division on going completely virtual for future events. In a statement posted on the company's website, Baldwin explained the decision:

"Today, we're sharing the news that we've made the very difficult decision to cancel all future O'Reilly in-person conferences and close down this portion of our business. Without understanding when this global health emergency may come to an end, we can't plan for or execute on a business that will be forever changed as a result of this crisis. With large technology vendors moving their events completely on-line, we believe the stage is set for a new normal moving forward when it comes to in-person events."

Updated Oct, 22, 2020 EST: Updated coronavirus and conference information, adding 2021 events calendar. Removed outdated information. Previous updates include; employee travel restrictions, conference cancellations, school closings, U.S. lawmakers going into isolation, U.S. travel restrictions, and U.S. aid legislation.

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