Registration & Networking Breakfast

Welcome Remarks

Keynote: What do we mean by disruptive technology?

• Ed Vaizey MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries

The combined impact of a troubled global economy and technology-driven innovation is driving technological advances that doesn’t just improve something, but replaces it entirely.  This is disruptive technology and it has the power to identify new products, improve services and open up new markets meaning understanding the opportunities it can bring, is crucial to business leaders.

 

Panel 1: Predicting the future: What technologies are truly big and how can business leaders recognize, and harness their potential?

• Dan Crow, CTO, Songkick
• Richard Dobbs, Director, McKinsey Global Institute
• Sylvain Preumont, Founder and Director, iMakr

With so much information and noise about new innovations and scientific discoveries, it can be difficult to identify which breakthroughs are the ones that matter.   In this session we look at which technologies are disrupting the status quo and identify the characteristics that makes them recognizable. What are the trends? Can we make predictions?

Panel 2: Managing disruption: Responding effectively to disruptive changes

• David Bailey, Chief Technical Officer, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Cyber Security Business
• Thijs Jurgens, Vice President of Innovation, Shell
• Alex Mason, Special Counsel, Baker Botts
• Dr Nicola J. Millard, Customer Experience Futurologist, BT Global Services

Disruptive technologies undoubtedly present considerable opportunity for business but they can also bring challenges and have implications across a company from finance to HR.  In this session we look at what businesses can do to manage disruption and respond effectively to the fundamental impact of disruptive technology trends.  What resources are required? How can you manage the risks? What will future companies business models look like?

Coffee Break

Panel 3: Grounds for innovation: What influences innovation and where will the next mega tech company emerge?

• Stuart Coleman, Commercial Director, Open Data Institute
• Amir Mizroch, Tech Editor, Dow Jones
• Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Enterprise
• Stephen Pattison, Vice President of Public Affairs, ARM

While Silicon Valley, the world’s largest and most influential technology start-up ecosystem, has produced almost every recent mega tech company, cities like New York, London, Berlin and Tel Aviv are seriously competing as new destinations for innovation hubs.  The tech sector has increasing importance for economic growth so what conditions do you need to create that disruptive spark?  And how can governments, and business, cultivate that environment?

Keynote: The case for Britain as an innovation centre

• Gerard Grech, CEO, Tech City

Networking Lunch