The City of Lights will open its doors on Wednesday to the biggest names in tech and the start-ups to watch.

Viva Technology is back in Paris for its sixth edition from June 15 to18 in an in-person and online format. This year will be back in full swing after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 1,500 exhibitors expected.

Euronews Next will be at the tech event in the French capital finding out about the latest innovations shaking up the tech ecosystem.

Here is what to expect from the tech fair this week.

The green theme

VivaTech has this year launched six themes: The Race to Net Zero Emissions, The Mobility Rebound, Future of Work, Inclusion is a Mindset, Tech on the Edge and Web3.

Two of those themes stand out this year, said Julie Ranty, Managing Director of VivaTech.

“The first theme is the topic of the environment and how tech is a vehicle for preserving our planet and reducing carbon emissions,” she told Euronews Next.

“It goes through topics like energy, CO2 recycling, changing production methods in agriculture, growing crops or preserving biodiversity, sponge farming. Honestly, we see that tech, innovation, bring answers on all environmental issues”.

With its 1,800 start-ups representing 70,000 jobs and yearly funding exceeding €1bn, GreenTech is primed for making France an international reference in this sector, said Clara Chappaz, Director of La Mission French Tech.

“VivaTech gives us the opportunity not only to show off the innovations being developed in France to respond to today’s challenges but also to show the role start-ups play in bringing about radical transformation through a true commitment to solving today’s problem,” she told Euronews Next.

“I am convinced, and I see it every day in my work, that startups are the bearers of solutions, and technology is the most formidable lever, both in developing radical innovations and in offering solutions to help change habits, to respond to the most important challenges of these times”.

Web3 and the metaverse

Web3 – what is being called the next version of the Internet – is the theme that comes in second place at this year’s VivaTech.

“The emerging trend is becoming more and more prominent. Everybody is wondering a little bit but how does it work? What’s the use of it? What are the concrete applications?” Ranty said.

“We will be very much in the business of teaching and decoding this, and also showing examples in the luxury, music, and creative industries, in terms of the global opportunities that this creates for brands and for customers and users”.

Green-tech, Web3, and the metaverse will of course be the words spoken by many at VivaTech but in the shadows of everyone’s mind will be the economic woes and the fears of rising inflation.

“We see that in the United States there is a contraction of investment and a very bad trend that is starting to emerge. I think the big question is, is this going to spread to Europe? How fast? How will the startups react?” said Ranty.

“What is certain is that in any case there will be a desire to reach profitability more quickly, to rationalise the investments that are made by directing them to projects that can bear fruit more quickly. And to have a business model that is viable more quickly.

“VivaTech will be a great opportunity to discuss with experts from all over the world whether the recession is really going to happen and if so, which where it will hit first”.

But VivaTech will not be too gloomy.

On Wednesday, the Next Unicorn Awards will take place, which name Europe’s scale-ups to watch and will be presented by Euronews Next.

And on Saturday, the venue will be open to the public and also launch the Girls in Tech programme, which will bring more than 3,000 middle and high-school girls to discover digital technology.