DataEngBytes was established in 2019, a natural evolution from a growing data engineering meetup in Sydney that began in 2017. It was driven by Founder Peter Hanssens experience as the sole data practitioner at a startup, seeking a community to validate and enrich data engineering practices and exchange ideas. Initially designed to fill a gap in technical dialogue and community engagement absent in existing meetups, DataEngBytes quickly evolved into a full-day conference.
Despite the unforeseen challenges posed by COVID-19, leading to an online format in its first years, the conference successfully transitioned to in-person events in Sydney and Melbourne in 2022, expanding further to four Australian capital cities in 2023 and to New Zealand in 2024. Now with thousands of attendees and hundreds of speakers and volunteers to date, DataEngBytes plays an important role highlighting the work of data engineers in Australia and New Zealand and positioning the region as a global epicentre of data engineering innovation.