The eighth annual Thinking Digital runs 19-21 May 2015 at the Sage Gateshead near Newcastle upon Tyne
The Thinking Digital Conference is an annual gathering of more than 600 innovators, creatives, thinkers and entrepreneurs.
With movers and shakers from top tech startups to digital superpowers such as Google, Microsoft and IBM, the conference offers a line-up that is sure to inspire fresh thinking.
Here’s a sampling of just a few of the 35 speakers, performers & facilitators:
• Holly Lloyd – Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios who has worked on films such as Finding Nemo and The Incredibles
• Andy Stanford-Clark – an IBM Master Inventor with more than 40 patents to his name and a global authority on Internet of Things
• Prof Luciano Floridi – from Oxford University Internet Institute, a philosopher futurist seeking to understand technology’s impact on ethics and information
• Dr Catherine Mohr – Director of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical (creators of the Da Vinci surgical robot) and an expert on the future of medicine
• Laura-Jane (LJ) Rich – BBC Click presenter with an unusual perspective on the world around us
• Russell Davies & Ade Adewumni – strategists at the Government Digital Service (GDS) who are helping shape the future of digital public services in the UK
• Tony Hey – recently retired from Microsoft Research where he was a global authority on the use of computing to advance the frontiers of scientific research
• Tara Shears – Liverpool University’s first female physicist and a representative at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland
• Max Lines – leading Uber’s expansion to cities all over the UK
• Ian Wharton – winner of an Apple Design Award and the creator of Jamie Oliver’s bestselling app, now a Group Creative Director at AKQA
In addition, there’s a great range of hands-on pre-conference workshops which take place on Tuesday 19th May at various locations across Newcastle upon Tyne covering everything from VR to digital marketing to presentation skills.
Thinking Digital founder and Tech North chair Herb Kim commented: “I’m extremely happy and proud about the speakers we’ve recruited for this year’s Conference. For anyone with an interest in our future, Thinking Digital is going to be a valuable and extremely enjoyable experience. I am looking forward to what promises to be the best Thinking Digital event we’ve ever organised.”