This week, we participated in the European Development Days in Brussels, Belgium to continue the conversation about how technology-enabled commerce can help spark more inclusive economic growth, particularly in developing countries. As with other recent events and discussions (many of which we’ve shared here on eBay Main Street), we presented eBay Inc.’s recent Commerce 3.0 research and policy roadmap. Even more importantly, however, we were able to connect and collaborate with several international experts in trade and development that were in attendance. As a result, we’ve gained even more valuable insight into how we can refine our perspectives and achieve greater impact, as well as continued to build a coalition of like-minded individuals and organizations committed to empowering small businesses to participate in cross-border trade.

It was a busy week generating lots of new conversation, coverage and relationships. Here’s a quick recap of the highlights, along with some photos and other content that will hopefully help you feel like you were right there at the event with us.

Our session on Wednesday drew a group of more than 50 attendees, as well as a set of engaging questions and insights about our work. Our own Brian Bieron (Senior Director of Global Public Policy) and Annie Lescroart (Senior Manager, Global Stakeholder Engagement) joined Professor Marcelo Olarreaga (University of Geneva) and panel moderator James Waterworth (Computer and Communications Industry Association), who led the session—here is a photo from the event:

Our panel session and presence at the European Development Days generated some interest and conversation on social media as well. Here are a couple of our favorite tweets:

And, in case you were wondering, we did find a winner for the iPad:

In addition, Brian spoke with several international development-focused media outlets on-site, including Devex, Debating Europe and Capacity4dev. Stay tuned for coverage, and enjoy a few “behind the scenes” photos from a couple of the interviews:

We were pleased to attend this year’s European Development Days conference and excited about all the Commerce 3.0 momentum we’ve built over the past several weeks. And we look forward to all that still lies ahead—next week, we head to Washington, DC for the launch of the U.S.-focused Commerce 3.0 paper, so stay tuned for even more updates and developments!