The G8 Innovation Debate

THE G8 INNOVATION DEBATE Belfast, Northern Ireland 10 Oct 2013

THE G8 INNOVATION DEBATE The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), one of the world’s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community, and the Northern Ireland Science Park recognised the unique opportunity to showcase the island’s technical capability when Northern Ireland hosted the G8 Summit. The IET and the NISP are therefore delighted to partner Invest NI and host a G8 Innovation Debate at the start of the G8 Investment Conference which was announced by the British Prime Minister, the Right Honorable David Cameron. The G8 Innovation Debate will show-case the local engineering and technical capabilities to an international audience and act as a catalyst for further innovation on this island.

The Debate will include a panel of speakers who will give short addresses on local innovation and how it can help grow economies like the island of Ireland. The panel will be led by Andy Hopper Past President of the IET. Andy is Professor of Computer Technology at the University of Cambridge and Head of the Computer Laboratory. He has pursued academic and industrial careers simultaneously. In the industrial context he Guest Speaker Andy Hopper has co-founded over a dozen spin-outs and start-ups, three of which floated on stock markets, as well as working for multinational companies. He is Chairman of RealVNC Group and Ubisense plc which between them have received five Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.

The addresses will be followed by questions and answers from an invited audience. Guests will also be invited to a luncheon hosted by the IET. The event will provide an excellent opportunity to stimulate debate and also to show-case innovation within the island of Ireland. It will leverage further networking and collaboration opportunities within the stake-holder community, and may well act as a focal point and catalyst for recovery in itself.

The event will be held at Titanic Belfast the exciting new Exhibition and Conference facility in Belfast Harbour the birthplace of the Titanic.

The event is being supported by: the Northern Ireland Science Park; Invest NI; and the two Northern Ireland Universities.