Theme: ORDER FROM CHAOS

In an ever more complex world, some have made it their mission to tame, overcome or exploit the disorder to create simple solutions to complex problems. We invite you to explore some of their ideas with us.

Reading International Business Centre
A33
Reading, Reading, RG2 6DA
United Kingdom

Andrew Tsonchev

Director of Cyber Analysis

The advent of smart cities is fast approaching. Connected devices interlaced into our daily lives promise to revolutionise the way we live, work and play together. As we collect and process this data, we will be able to unlock new ways to deal with the threats and challenges that cities and their citizens face. By taking inspiration from the way the human immune system deals with threats, can we tap into this data to build a digital “immune system” for the cities of the future? -- Andrew Tsonchev is a technical specialist in cyber security and threat analysis, advising Fortune 500 companies on leveraging machine learning and AI technologies for advanced threat detection and autonomous response. He holds a first-class degree in physics from Oxford University and a first-class degree in philosophy from King’s College London.

Ann Olivarius

Chief Executive Officer & Chair of the Rhodes Project

Revenge porn is a modern form of sexual violence that aims to give men control over women’s bodies and images. It is a hate crime for the era of mass media and is enabled by an audience that finds pleasure in others’ shame. In addition to prosecuting individual perpetrators, we need to find ways to go after the distributors and spreaders of revenge porn content. Only by addressing the phenomenon as a whole can we make the internet a safer place. -- As a Rhodes Scholar, she wrote a prize-winning doctorate in Economics at Oxford University, before becoming the first person to complete degrees from both the Yale School of Management and Yale Law School. Dr Olivarius has managed complex legal matters for over 25 years, focusing particularly on women’s rights issues.

Chris Bakal

Team Leader at the Institute of Cancer Research

The ability of cancer cells to adopt different shapes and spread throughout the body drives 90% of cancer deaths. My idea is that by stopping these shape changes, we can better treat cancer. I will discuss how we are using cutting-edge imaging and computer vision technologies to watch cancer cells change shape, and finding new ways to prevent cancer shape-shifting. I will also discuss some of the challenges we are facing in doing this work, and how we might be able to overcome them. -- Chris received his BSc in Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia, and his PhD in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto. Chris’ postdoctoral work was performed in Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and CSAIL at MIT. Chris was awarded the 2015 Cancer Research UK Future Leaders Prize.

Chris Forster

Chris Forster is the Chief Operating Officer of Altitude Angel, a leading drone platform company that builds drone software services that enable the safe integration if drones into the airspace. Chris has a Masters of Engineering degree in Computer Science and Cybernetic and has worked in the technology industry for 15 years. Before joining Altitude Angel in 2016, Chris worked at Microsoft for ~10 years where he held support, consulting and management roles, focused on working with Microsoft Enterprise customers to help them get the most out of technology.

Edd Keene

Performer and Artist

Edd Keene is a multi-instrumentalist live looping performer. He has been performing his unique act for the past ten years at some of the biggest and best festivals across the UK and Europe, as well as having played in prestigious venues such as Ronnie Scotts. Skilled in saxophone, flute, guitar, bass, drums and vocals he uses his loop pedal to record and layer together his instruments, creating his tracks, completely live with no pre-recordings. Edd will share how he uses live looping to create his art and will demonstrate the method in two musical performances.

James Matthews

Azure Enterprise Lead

As social media becomes more prevalent, more and more of our news is being “pushed” to us but does this convenience mean are we foregoing our ability to form our own opinions? -- With a broad background in artificial intelligence and law, technology strategist James Matthews spends his time understanding the holistic effect technology has on our lives. James works at Microsoft and speaks frequently on technology, innovation and social media.

Kizanne James

“Kizanne is a multi-award winning leader, Chevening Scholar, Women’s Rights and Health Activist and physician with a passion for Global Health. She has been an executive member for numerous third-sector organisations within the Caribbean and the United Kingdom, with a special focus on youth empowerment, women’s development and health. Her work in youth leadership spanning over 15 years has been recognised by The University of the Southern Caribbean, who named her the Most Outstanding Young Alumni 2015 and The University of the West Indies from whom she received the Primer Award for Leadership, Award for Outstanding Leadership and Excellence in Leadership consecutively. As well as from The University of Southampton, from whom she received the Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Award 2017 for her contribution to the development of women.

Michael Cordova

Founder and Float Facilitator at Floating Point Float Centre

We live in a 24/7 digital culture and as a society we revel in being busy all the time. What if we could be more productive by doing a lot less? In this talk Michael Cordova looks at how floating and ‘doing nothing’ can help us to achieve more by doing a lot less. -- Michael is the founder and float facilitator at Floating Point Float Centre in Berkshire, an award-winning business that has helped over 1700 people in the last 2 years including many Team GB Rowers. He sees floating as an antidote to our 24/7 digital lives and a way to alter our ingrained behaviours for a more positive life.

Rebecca Amos

Head of Marketing at Featurespace

With cyber attacks, security threats and data breaches on the rise, how can we be sure that organisations are protecting us, their customers? As criminals and fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, can we teach machines to act like humans to outsmart risk? -- Rebecca joined Featurespace in 2014 as Head of Marketing, working with Featurespace’s expert team to enable global organisations to protect their customers and outsmart risk. Before joining Featurespace, she worked at Redgate Software, leading marketing for products in disaster recovery and cloud technologies.

Richard Stephens

Senior Lecturer in Psychology

Swearing isn’t all bad. From his own psychology research on swearing as a response to pain, to studies from further afield, Richard Stephens will present the numerous positive outcomes of swearing. This TEDx talk will make you think about swearing in a whole new light. Sometimes it’s OK to drop the F-bomb. -- Dr. Richard Stephens is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Keele University and Chair of the British Psychological Society Psychobiology Section. He has won several awards for science communication including the Wellcome Trust /Guardian Science Writing Prize 2014 and, in 2010, an Ig Nobel Prize for his research on swearing and pain.

Thais Compoint

CEO and Founder of Déclic International

Research shows that diverse teams led inclusively can improve sales, engagement, productivity, innovation and even financial results. Yet, companies struggle to make progress in this area. Corporate culture is said to be one of the main obstacles. Thais explains two practical steps anyone can take anywhere to contribute to a more inclusive corporate culture and create a great place to work. -- Thais Compoint is an award-winning author, speaker, trainer, and consultant specialising in inclusion and diversity for the past 18 years. She’s the author of the book “Succeed as an inclusive leader”, the founder of the Inclusive Leadership Global Conference, and a regular Huffington Post contributor. Thais is also the CEO of Déclic International and has received 13 awards world-wide for her accomplishments.

Tim Brownstone

CEO of KYMIRA

With the rise of wearable technology and a renewed focus on personal health, there is a growing demand for technical innovations in the medical space. Innovators, start-ups and SME’s are pushing the space forward alongside larger corporate companies, but is there a better way? Can you run a lean start-up and develop med’ tech? -- Tim is a multi-award winning entrepreneur with a background in photo-biology and is responsible for KYMIRA’s success to date through his academic knowledge, personal background in performance sports and his business acumen.

Tom Bigglestone and Jason Buckley

Founder and Director of The Philosophy Man

In an age of search engines, how can you avoid a beautiful question being ruined by an ugly answer? Where do you look for the questions that Google can’t kill? How can children be prepared for a world of uncertainty and division? Could Hmmm Questions be the answer? -- Tom has been a Head of Department at both secondary and primary level. He has specialised for several years in Philosophy for Children, and in 2014 was awarded The Walter Hines Page scholarship. Jason is an educational entrepreneur and former teacher, founder of The Philosophyman, Outspark outdoor education and Director of Studies at GIFT, Europe’s leading provider of multi-disciplinary summer schools for exceptionally able teens.