NEWCASTLE-GATESHEAD, England, May 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- Kurzweil, Greg Dyke, 'Fake Steve Jobs', Multimap Founder & More to Speak

Some of the sharpest minds in technology, digital marketing and mobile will head to North East England from around the world later on 21-23 May to discuss the ideas and technologies that are set to fundamentally alter the way people live and work.

Ray Kurzweil, a futurist who predicts computer intelligence will surpass human intelligence in 2029, Aubrey de Grey, a biogerentologist who says we can engineer a cure for the ageing process, and Greg Dyke, the former director general of the BBC, are amongst the eclectic line-up of speakers at the inaugural Thinking Digital conference, which will take place at the Sage Gateshead, NewcastleGateshead, on 21-23 May.

Delegates will also be treated to what are expected to be the first UK demos of Microsoft's much-anticipated Live Mesh - which synchronises data and connects multiple devices.

An exclusive audience of 400 people is expected at the two-and-a-half day event to hear from an eclectic mix of speakers including key players from some of the world's leading digital agencies and media organisations, such as:

- Sean Phelan, the founder of Multimap

- Sean Clayton, software plus services lead at Microsoft, who will be demonstrating Live Mesh on stage

- Dan Lyons, the senior editor of Forbes magazine, who was outed last summer as the man behind The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, a satirical blog about the CEO of Apple

- Gerard Grech, strategy and business development director, Orange Group, Content Division

- Matt Locke, commissioning editor for Channel 4 Education

- Jessica Flannery, chief marketing officer for Kiva.org, a web 2.0 social enterprise that helps entrepreneurs in developing nations

- Tara Hunt, community marketing guru, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Citizen Agency

- Daniel Pink, Al Gore's former speechwriter and author of A Whole New Mind, which charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies

Herbert Kim, programme director for Thinking Digital, says the broad scope of the conference makes it the first event of its kind in the UK: "As technologies get more and more sophisticated and complex, they're driving an ever-greater need for concerned and informed individuals to meet face-to-face in order to better understand the changes in our world, digest the future trends we face, and think creatively about what we can do."

The conference will kick off on the afternoon of 21 May with a series of workshops. The talks will begin on day two, with sessions on the future of media, the 'network effect, technology and even happiness. The final day will include sessions on globalisation, mobile 2.0 and management in the digital age.

The Thinking Digital conference is being organised by Codeworks, North East England's centre for digital innovation. It will take place at the Sage Gateshead and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art on 21-23 May. For more information and to book seats, visit http://www.thinkingdigital.co.uk

Notes for editors

About Thinking Digital

The Thinking Digital conference is an annual event where 400 outstanding individuals gather to take part in an exclusive conversation about technology, ideas and our future. The conference is run by Codeworks, a centre for digital innovation based in North East England. See http://www.thinkingdigital.co.uk for up-to-date information on speakers.

Sponsors & partners to date include: Microsoft, BT, BlueBoomerang.com, New Media Age, Chinwag, TechCrunch UK, E-Consultancy, The Journal, BBC Backstage, Madgex, the Mobile Entertainment Forum, Nigel Wright and Twenty First Century Media.

All media enquiries:

Lewis Harrison; Codeworks; +44(0)191-556-1128; +44(0)7867-674-994, lewis.harrison@codeworks.net

Lewis Harrison; Codeworks; +44(0)191-556-1128; +44(0)7867-674-994, lewis.harrison@codeworks.net