LWF12: Speakers

Inventor & Futurist

RAY KURZWEIL has been described as “the restless genius” by the Wall Street Journal, and “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes. Inc. Magazine ranked him #8 among entrepreneurs in the United States, calling him…

Scientist, Author, Musician & Artist

A Renaissance Man for the 21st century, Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist, composer, artist, and author who writes on numerous topics, including high-technology business, the social impact of technology, the philosophy…

Sailor and Founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Dame Ellen MacArthur first hit the headlines in 2001 when she raced single-handedly non-stop around the world in the Vendée Globe when only 24 years old. After 94 days…

Mathematician & Founder, Wolfram Research Europe

Conrad Wolfram, physicist, mathematician and technology visionary, is strategic director and European co-founder/CEO of the Wolfram group of companies. Described as the place where “Computation meets Knowledge” and the “The Math…

Director, Lifelong Kindergarten, MIT Media Lab

Mitchel Resnick, Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, develops new technologies and activities to engage people (especially children) in creative learning experiences. His ultimate goal: to help people…

President, LEGO Education

Jacob Kragh is President of LEGO Education. LEGO Education is a division of the LEGO Group, based in Billund, Denmark. The division was established in 1980 in response to demands from childcare practitioners, and…

Teacher & Author

Francis Gilbert was educated at Sussex University, Cambridge University and completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University Of East Anglia, studying under Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. Since the early 1990s, he…

Photo: Lucinda Douglas-Menzies

Martin Rees has spent most of his working life as a university professor, his research interests being in astronomy and space science. He has lectured, written and broadcast extensively on these subjects,…

Scientist & Author

Author, journalist and broadcaster Michael Brooks holds a PhD in quantum physics. He is a consultant at New Scientist, a weekly magazine with over three quarters of a million readers worldwide, has a weekly…

Chief Executive, NESTA

Geoff Mulgan is Chief Executive of NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts). From 2004-2011 he was the first Chief Executive of the Young Foundation, which became a leading centre for social…

Charles Leadbeater is a leading authority on innovation and creativity. He has advised companies, cities and governments around the world on innovation strategy and drew on that experience in writing his latest book We-think: the power of…

Chief Executive Officer/Creative Director – Schell Games

Prior to starting Schell Games in 2004, Jesse was the Creative Director of the Disney Imagineering Virtual Reality Studio, where he worked and played for seven years as designer, programmer…

Appearing via live video link

If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original”

Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. He…

Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education

Dr Paul Howard-Jones is a leading expert on the role of neuroscience in educational practice and policy and publishes in all associated areas. He has a particular interest…

Keri is Professor of Education at the Education and Social Research Institute, MMU, where she specialises in digital cultures, social justice and radical educational change. Formerly Research Director at Futurelab, Keri led the Beyond Current Horizons Programme…

Artist & Designer

Lisa Ma is a Speculative Designer & Researcher whose recent work is a kind of service design with a twist. Through an ethnographic research process she explores fringe groups that are largely ignored by…

Chief Marketing Officer
GSMA

As chief marketing officer for the GSMA, Michael O’Hara is responsible for the GSMA’s global marketing and communications strategy, working in close partnership with the organisation’s membership to identify,…

Learning and Innovation Consultant

Professor. Chair in New Media Environments, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University,

Emeritus Professor Anglia Ruskin University

Visiting Professor Universidad Camilo Jose Cela, Madrid

Executive chairman Learning Possibilities

Stephen’s “eyes on…

Educator and researcher

Doug Belshaw is an educator, researcher and activist currently working for JISC infoNet. He is co-kickstarter (with Andy Stewart) of Purpos/ed, a Community Interest Company focusing on encouraging and enlarging the debate around the…

Vice-President of Education, Microsoft

As Vice-President of Education for Microsoft Corp.’s Worldwide Public Sector organization, Anthony Salcito works with education institutions and partners globally to embrace technology to optimize learning environments and student achievement. In this role,…

Linguist and Social/Political Theorist

(via video)

Noam Chomsky was born on December 7, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received his Phd in linguistics in 1955 from the University of Pennsylvania. During the years 1951 to 1955, Chomsky…

The Rt Hon Lord Knight of Weymouth

Jim Knight was the longest serving Schools minister in the last Labour government; he also served as Rural Affairs minister and Employment minister. He attended weekly Cabinet in the year…

Film Director at Large

Jason Wishnow is the Film Director at Large for the TED Conference and has worked at the intersection of film and emerging technologies for over a decade. He has been…

Actor and Television Presenter

Dallas Campbell is an actor and writer whose curiosity and original mind have led him into a parallel career as one of TV’s freshest and most sought after presenting talents.

After finishing series…

Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation

A community activist and technology executive of 20+ years, Mark currently serves as Executive Director at Mozilla, makers of Firefox and one of the largest social enterprises in the world. At Mozilla, he…

Engineer, Mozilla Foundation

Michelle is currently working with the Mozilla Foundation to create a web literate planet. She plans to teach the world how to become producers (and not just consumers) on the web, so that they…

Interim CEO, Apps for Good

Debbie Forster is the Interim CEO at CDI Europe and has led on the national roll-out of Apps for Good in the UK. The Apps for Good programme teaches young people problem-solving…

Lead Software Engineer, Google London

Andrew Eland is lead software engineer, Google London. Originally working on distributed filesystems and cluster management, he now leads the UK Google Maps engineering team. His technical interests include dynamic languages, distributed…

Minister for Culture, Communications & the Creative Industries

Portfolio

• Arts
• Media
• Museums and Galleries
• Telecoms and Broadband
• Digital Switchover
• Creative Industries
• Libraries

Ed Vaizey MP was elected as the Member of Parliament for Wantage and…

David Puttnam spent thirty years as an independent film producer. His many award winning films include The Mission, the Killing Fields, Local Hero, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone, and the Memphis Belle.

He retired from…