The Ethereum Foundation has announced that Devcon2, the Ethereum developer conference, will be held in Shanghai, from 19 to 21 September, 2016.

The event will showcase the latest research and development work supported by the Foundation and represents the most comprehensive Ethereum-focused developer’s conference so far. Devcon1 was held in London on November 9-13, 2015.

The Foundation announced Microsoft as the Premiere Sponsor of Devcon2, which is being presented as a part of the International Blockchain Week this year along with the Wanxiang Blockchain Labs’ events. The weeklong, single venue format functions to provide both the development-focused Devcon2 and the business and industry focused Global Summit events in one week to facilitate greater interaction and cross-pollination between people involved in different areas or aspects of blockchain tech.

As part of the conference, Ethereum developers will get an opportunity to hear from Microsoft experts and learn about Microsoft Azure’s leading tools for blockchain technology development.

The Ethereum Foundation’s Chief Scientist, Vitalik Buterin, notes that “We are very happy to have Microsoft’s sponsorship for Devcon2 and highly appreciate their continued support and collaboration with the Ethereum Foundation and the Ethereum ecosystem. We look forward to continuing to work together in the future.”

Microsoft can be regarded as a pioneer in the blockchain space with its Blockchain as a Service (BaaS). It provides an open, hyperscale cloud platform and an expanding ecosystem of blockchain technologies for businesses, consortiums and governments who are looking to adopt the technology.

“We’re thrilled to support the Ethereum Foundation’s Devcon2, which will bring together pioneers in blockchain from all over the world,” said Marley Gray, Director of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Business Development, Microsoft. “The Ethereum blockchain is powerful, and we’re looking forward to continuing the collaborative relationship with the Ethereum community, together bringing the best of blockchain technology to our cloud platform, Microsoft Azure.”