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G8 Innovation Conference

14 Jun 2013 12:20 PM
The conference on 14 June focused on how innovation can be encouraged and where the next big opportunities are for business innovation.

The Innovation Conference has brought together today’s leading innovators and thought leaders across disciplines, from the G8 and beyond. From public policy to science and technology, this conference has facilitated conversations that influence the dialogue throughout the UK G8 Presidency.

High profile speakers included:

  • David Willetts, BIS Minister for Science and Innovation
  • Sir Richard Branson, who will discuss entrepreneurship and innovation
  • Ron Dennis of McLaren who will talk about innovation in F1 and how technologies spin out into other sectors
  • Daphne Koller, founder of Coursera, who will discuss online education
  • Zaha Hadid, architect
  • Thomas Heatherwick, the designer of the new London bus, discussing innovation and creativity

A senior UK Cabinet Minister closed the Innovation Conference.

Delegates included around 250 leading international entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, creatives and policy makers from more than 22 different countries.

You can view events at the Global Investment Conference here

In the afternoon, G8 Innovation Conference delegates split into small groups and visited innovation centres of excellence. There they heared from world leading innovation practitioners and reflect and discussed how new approaches can address current challenges. These include:

  • Tech City in East London
  • The Work Foundation
  • Open Data Institute
  • Royal Academy of Engineering

Overall, the event also set out areas where the UK is a global innovation leader in entrepreneurship, creativity, science and technology and demonstrate the UK’s ability to provide the conditions for the cross fertilisation of ideas and inter-disciplinary collaboration. As a result, the event aims to inspire international innovators, attract investment into the UK and enable UK businesses and innovators to find international partners to enable them to collaborate and develop new ideas in response to global challenges.

You will be able to watch other videos through UKTI’s YouTube channel

Follow UKTI Twitter @UKTI and join the conversation using #G8IC

Follow the Twitter channel for the UK Presidency @G8 or follow #G8UK

Read more about the UK’s G8 Presidency

Join the discussions in UKTI’s LinkedIn Group

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Partners

The Conference was organised by UKTI in partnership with BT and Cisco. Contact UKTI for advice and support investing in the UK.