Summit 2011 - Invitation

The OFE Summit 2011 is confirmed for Thursday 22^nd September, and will be held at Autoworld in Brussels. 

Leading the first keynote session of the Summit will be European Commission Vice President and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes and Hal Varian, Chief Economist for Google.

Ms Kroes is expected to give an update on the action plan for the Digital Agenda, which is transforming the ICT market in Europe, picking up the specific points she made in last year's speech. Mr Varian, one of the most highly respected economists in the field of information technology in the world will talk about the economic impact of an open ICT market and outline his vision for how this market will evolve.

Building on these two introductory keynotes the OFE Summit 2011 will focus on an Open Vision for Europe and in particular what this means in 2012-2015. Openness faces serious challenges and legislators on both sides of the Atlantic are considering laws that will have a long-lasting impact on information technology and the way people use it in their day-to-day lives.

Can we assume that the Internet will remain an open environment where innovation and entrepreneurship have thrived? How will lawmakers balance the often conflicting demands on its use? Will cloud computing become a fragmented world where citizens are locked in to one or other cloud provider, or one where citizens are free to move their data as they please, benefiting from the massive economies of scale that the cloud offers? The US government has recently published a report on "Winning the Future through Open Innovation" - what is Europe's answer?

• Neelie Kroes, Vice President, European Commission

• Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google

• Dr Tony Cornford, LSE
•  Marietje Schaake, MEP
• Liam Maxwell, UK Cabinet Office
•  Severin Naudet, French Government
• Georg Greve, FSFE
•  Fabian Pinckaers, Open ERP
• Laura Creighton, VC
• Chris Taggart, CEO, OpenCorporates
• Harry van Dorenmalen, IBM Chairman Europe
• Glyn Moody, Technology Writer
• Prof. Jiri Hrebicek, Uni Brno “eEnvironment and the Single Information Space in Europe for the Environment
• Dr Ivan Lund Pedersen, National Program Manager, Connected Digital Health, Denmark
• ANEC, Chiara Giovannini
• Munir Ismet, Oracle
  

Supporting these broad debates we plan three main sessions:

Creating an Open Climate for Entrepreneurship in Europe – Young Europeans are not short of ideas. What is needed for turning some of those ideas into innovative businesses? Can the Open Web, Open Data and Open Standards help contribute to a favourable framework for entrepreneurship? We will hear from investors and entrepreneurs from the US and Europe.

Tackling the Big Issues through Open Technology: eHealth, Smart Grid, smart cities. Digital technologies have enormous potential to benefit our everyday lives and tackle social challenges, but how do we go from the pilot stage to a Smarter future for all?

We strongly advise you to register now. In previous years we have had a full house and had to close registrations well before the event, so we strongly recommend you book early to avoid disappointment.

Presentations

Programme & Speakers

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