Inside DrupalCamp Berlin 2024: Innovations, Awards, and the Future of Drupal CMS

Author: Christoph Breidert

In November 2024, the Drupal community gathered in Berlin for an inspiring DrupalCamp event, bringing together over 150 developers, project managers, designers, and strategists. Attendees participated in nearly 50 sessions covering a range of topics, with a special focus on integrating AI with Drupal and the brand new Drupal CMS - which will be released in January 2025. The camp also featured the prestigious Drupal Splash Awards gala on the first evening, where winners were chosen from 30 of the year’s best Drupal projects, highlighting innovation and excellence within the community.

DrupalCamp Berlin: a gathering of passion and innovation

Over 150 Drupal enthusiasts - developers, designers, strategists, and project managers - gathered for an energising DrupalCamp Berlin 2024 experience. The camp was animated by the rapid innovation currently shaping the Drupal CMS, especially as it moves toward becoming fully AI-powered. Attendees explored a wide range of topics through presentations and workshops, diving into the cutting-edge advancements that are driving Drupal’s future.

Some of the highlight that stood out for me were:

• Overarching sessions like The Future of Drupal Administration theme Gin and Composer Best Practices & Supply Chain Security when using Drupal .
• Practical talks such as Building Microsites with Drupal, Large-scale Drupal 7 migration and Supercharged Mobile App Development with Drupal.
• Newer areas of focus, like AI Agents and Building a Scalable Multibrand Design System on Drupal.

The camp welcomed companies from all over Germany and Austria. Notably, several companies with a less active past presence returned this year, bringing fresh energy and interest to the community. Many first-time participants also joined, taking advantage of hands-on Drupal workshops.

Another memorable moment was a session with colleagues from the Typo3 community, featuring an inspiring presentation Spill the Beans: A TYPO3 Story celebrating cross-platform collaboration.

The prestigious Drupal Splash Awards

In a festive evening held at the historic Alte Münze Berlin, the annual Drupal Splash Awards honored the year’s best Drupal projects. After careful review of numerous submissions, the top 30 projects were recognized across various categories such as Enterprise, Media, Solutions, E-Commerce, Government, and Non-Profit. The awards celebrated winners and runners-up in each category, with additional prizes for “heart projects” - those that exemplified extraordinary creativity and impact. 

The winners were:

• Linexo - Multisite e-commece solution
• Mubea - Multisite micromobility solution
• Gobal platform for Bauer group
• HubbS - School platform
• KultinO - Platform for culture in northern Germany
• Duden - AI learning platform
• IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

This celebration highlighted the high standards and innovation within the Drupal community and provided well-deserved recognition to top contributors.

Introducing the brand new “Drupal CMS”

One of the most eagerly awaited moments at DrupalCamp Berlin was a keynote by Baddý Breidert, former Board Chair of the Drupal Association and PHP Foundation Ambassador. Baddy provided essential background on the history and context leading up to Drupal’s latest innovations, setting the stage for an exciting announcement. She then introduced Dries Buytaert, Drupal’s founder, whose video message presented details of Drupal CMS, formerly know by the codename Starshot.

Dries presented Drupal CMS as a groundbreaking, ready-to-use CMS product with no licensing fees or vendor lock-in. Designed as an AI-powered, API-first platform, Drupal CMS brings out-of-the-box features like SEO, multilingual capabilities, and advanced search that traditionally required complex customization. Dries explained the vision and strategy for this new offering, positioning it as a milestone in Drupal’s ongoing evolution and a tool to empower its community and users even further.

Final thoughts: community, collaboration, and value in changing times

The spirit of collaboration and open dialogue at DrupalCamp Berlin left me inspired and proud to be part of such a vibrant community. The camp reinforced the value of Drupal, especially in a climate where organizations are increasingly focused on cost-effective and adaptable digital solutions. For companies worldwide, Drupal continues to be a powerful, open-source CMS that drives efficiency and creativity, helping businesses meet evolving digital needs.