TL;DR — For developers: Riviera DEV (Jul 6–8, Sophia Antipolis) is the headline local conference — 700 attendees, deep dives, labs, talks.[1] For AI: ETSI runs two free annual conferences at its Sophia Antipolis campus (Feb + Oct); WAICF draws 10 k+ to Cannes each February.[6] The year-round meetup scene is anchored by Telecom Valley and a dozen active Meetup groups.
2026 Event Calendar
| Date | Event | Where | Focus | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 9–11 | ETSI AI & Data Conference[5] | ETSI HQ, Sophia Antipolis | AI Act, agentic AI, data standards | AIpast |
| Feb 12–13 | WAICF[6] | Palais des Festivals, Cannes | AI: 10 k visitors, 320 speakers, 220 exhibitors | AIpast |
| May 19 | La Nuit des Acteurs du Numérique Azuréens[11] | ALPHA, Sophia Antipolis | Local digital-sector gala; 2026 theme: trustworthy & responsible AI | Communitypast |
| Jun 3 | Deeptech Forum[10] | Mines Paris-PSL, Valbonne | Lab-to-market transition, deeptech funding | Academic |
| Jun 9–12 | IEEE VTC 2026 Spring[3] | Nice | Wireless, mobile & vehicular technology (registration closed) | MobileAcademic |
| Jun 11 | Gen AI Afterwork — Telecom Valley × Amadeus[11] | Amadeus HQ, Sophia Antipolis | Generative AI networking evening | AICommunity |
| Jun 12–14 | Startup Weekend Côte d'Azur[10] | Campus SophiaTech, Sophia Antipolis | 54-hour startup creation sprint | Community |
| Jun 22–26 | International Digital Week[8] | Saint-Jean-d'Angely, Nice | Digital transformation in education & entrepreneurship — free | Academic |
| Jul 2 | Azur Tech Summer[7] | SKEMA Business School, Sophia Antipolis | AI, cybersecurity, sustainable digital — €50–€150 | DevAI |
| Jul 6–8 | Riviera DEV 2026[1] | SKEMA Business School, Sophia Antipolis | Full-stack dev: deep dives, hands-on labs, tech talks, workshops | Dev |
| Oct 19–22 | ETSI Security Conference (20th ed.)[4] | ETSI HQ, 650 Route des Lucioles, Valbonne | Cybersecurity standards: quantum crypto, AI, 5G/6G, regulation — free | Security |
| Nov (TBA) | SophI.A Summit 2026[9] | Sophia Antipolis area | International AI: biology, healthcare, mobility, smart systems | AIAcademic |
Upcoming Highlights
Riviera DEV 2026 [1]
The flagship local developer conference. Day 1 (Jul 6): intensive 3-hour deep dives and hands-on coding labs. Days 2–3: keynotes, 50-min tech talks, 25-min quick talks, and signature "We're not just coders" workshops. Quarkus dedicated track. Evening beach dinner (Jul 6) and cocktail buffet with live music (Jul 7) included in registration. Tickets via Billetweb.[2]Azur Tech Summer [7]
4th edition. One day of keynotes, panels, and roundtables for tech executives and IT directors across all verticals (healthcare, tourism, industry). AI & data, cybersecurity, sustainable digital, organisational transformation, e-tourism. Evening aperitif from 5:30 PM. Organised by Telecom Valley; members get promo codes.ETSI Security Conference 2026 [4]
20th edition. 4-day programme for government, standards bodies, academia, and industry. Topics: quantum-safe cryptography, AI security, 5G→6G, consumer device regulation, fraud and standards convergence. Attendees typically from 40+ countries. Submission deadline was May 15; registration open.SophI.A Summit [9]
Annual international AI conference by Université Côte d'Azur / 3IA Côte d'Azur. 8th edition (Nov 2025) was at Mouratoglou Hotel & Resort, Biot. Covers AI in biology, healthcare, mobility, and smart systems. 2026 date listed as "TBA" — watch univ-cotedazur.eu.Just Past (Annual — Worth Tracking for 2027)
WAICF — World AI Cannes Festival [6]
Europe's largest AI festival: 10 k+ professional visitors, 320 speakers, 220 exhibitors. Not in Nice, but the local tech community attends en masse — Team Nice Côte d'Azur ran an AI Business Tour for 50+ international decision-makers the day before.[15] Annual; next edition February 2027.ETSI AI & Data Conference [5]
3rd edition. Focused on the intersection of AI standardisation and data governance: EU AI Act, Data Act, agentic AI, data spaces. Speakers from OECD, IDSA, telecom standards bodies. Free. Annually in February; proposals for 2027 typically due in autumn.Recurring Meetup Groups
Sophia Antipolis and Nice have an active grassroots tech community. Groups below meet quarterly-to-monthly; check their pages for upcoming events:[14]
- CNCF Cloud Native Sophia-Antipolis — Kubernetes, cloud-native[12]
- Data Science Meetup Nice-Sophia-Antipolis — 748 members[13]
- Cloud Developers Nice — 1,055 members
- Côte d'Azur AWS User Group — 457 members
- JSSophia (JavaScript) — 308 members
- HashiCorp User Group Sophia Antipolis — 202 members
- Sophia Antipolis WordPress Meetup — 213 members
- Sophia Antipolis IoT Meetup Group
- Women in ML & Data Science Sophia Antipolis — 55 members[16]
- Scrum.fr Nice-Sophia Antipolis
Telecom Valley is the central ecosystem association for the area; its event calendar[11] is the best single bookmark for networking evenings, afterworks, and sector-specific meetups throughout the year. French Tech Côte d'Azur[10] covers startup-oriented events.