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Line-up for inaugural Thinking Digital Conference London takes shape

The lineup for the inaugural Thinking Digital Conference in London is beginning to take shape, with the announcement of the first ten keynote speakers.

The leading discussion forum for developments in technology, science, arts and the media, which began in the North East and is now in its ninth year, is plotting its first event in the capital.

Taking place on the 15 and 16 March at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho, the conference brings together a raft of big names across the digital and technology sector.

Speakers taking to the stage over the the two days include Vice President of Europe at Twitter, Bruce Daisley, who has also worked as Sales Director for YouTube and Google’s display advertising and has been described by the Evening Standard as one of their ‘Most Influential Londoners’.

Human-robot interaction expert Heather Knight, an alumnus from the Personal Robots Group at MIT Media Lab and former Forbes List for 30 under 30 in Science recipient, will also be travelling to the event and will be joined onstage by her personal robot Data.

The world of advertising will be represented by Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK Rory Sutherland, who will be bringing his unique perspective as one of the early adopters of the internet and the first person to fall victim to online credit card fraud to bear on current digital developments in marketing and technology.

Editor and journalist Carla Buzasi, Global Chief Content Officer at trends and intelligence company WGSN, will be providing her insight on developments in digital and the media.

Thinker and journalist Carl Honoré is the Huffington Post’s ‘unofficial godfather of a growing cultural shift toward slowing down’ and will be discussing ideas explored in his latest book, The Slow Fix.

Thinking Digital will also be hosting talks by Joanna Montgomery, an entrepreneur who founded Internet of Things startup Little Riot and has recently secured £87k for her new venture Pillow Talk; comedians James Veitch and Emer Maguire; and digital artist Kelly Richardson, who has had work exhibited at the Sundance Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival and the Natural History Museum Vienna.

Founder Herb Kim spoke about the need for the conference to expand last year when he said: “We used to go to conferences such as TED in the US and I would personally recruit these folks.

“That was fine in the old days when we were running Thinking Digital as part of a larger enterprise. Now, though, every time I go over on an extended trip it’s a major deal and it’s an expensive way of doing it.

“I realised that an alternative would be to build up Thinking Digital and grow it further.”

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