To put it simply, at least for someone coming from Silicon Valley like myself, Quebec's Tech Week (Semaine Numérique in French), which is currently underway in the capital city of the French-Canadian province, is the South by Southwest (SXSW) of the North.

Despite below-freezing temperatures, over 25,000 people from around the globe are expected to attend the third edition of the 10-days long festival for the opportunity to network and learn about new technologies (artificial intelligence, virtual reality, IoT, robotic, blockchain, cryptocurrencies...).

Canada's largest technology event

"Quebec's Semaine Numérique is indeed very similar to SXSW with hundreds of conferences, workshops and side events bringing together technology experts, business professionals, investors, and families, to learn and share about how technology is impacting every facet of our lives," said in an exclusive phone interview Ms. Martine Rioux, General Manager of Quebec Numerique, the non-profit that organizes the festival. "There are also several startup competitions around video games, healthtech, insurtech and much more. This is Canada's largest technology event."

Read the full story at forbes.com.