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Richie Hawtin aka Plastikman is an iconic DJ, recording artist and technology pioneer. He is regarded as one of the leading protagonists of future thinking in electronic music and continues to push the frontiers of music, art and technology forwards in 2017. Hawtin uses his passion and influence to introduce new audiences to wider cross-cultural experiences and has collaborated with a number of artistic visionaries including Anish Kapoor, Andreas Gursky and Raf Simons, and recently performed at the Sydney Opera House, the Guggenheim (New York), and the Grand Palais (Paris). In 2016, he launched his own technology company, PLAYdifferently, and the tech-fund Plus 8 Equities, investing into innovative companies who use technology to drive music forwards.
Based in Washington D.C. Rebecca is a photographer, photo editor and social media specialist, currently working as the Image Coordinator and Social Media Specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Rebecca has worked at NASA for nearly 8 years and is charged with sharing images of our universe with the media and public through channels such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Prior to working at NASA, Rebecca worked as a photojournalist and photo editor for outlets including National Geographic Television & Film, Roll Call Newspaper, and USA Weekend Magazine.
Adam D’Angelo is the co-founder and CEO of Quora, the Q&A platform that empowers people to share and grow the world’s knowledge. Since 2009, Quora has grown serve over 100 million monthly unique visitors from around the world. He previously served as chief technology officer at Facebook, where he oversaw new product development and managed the engineering team. In addition, he guided the site’s architecture and infrastructure and started the company’s growth team. Prior to serving as CTO, he led the Facebook Platform team and, as an engineer, built the initial infrastructure for news feed and the first generation of the company’s advertising targeting and delivery systems. Adam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the California Institute of Technology.
Alexander Ljung is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SoundCloud, the world’s largest music and audio platform with more than 175 million monthly users. Since its inception in 2007, Alex has been responsible for overseeing SoundCloud’s vision, strategy and leadership. Under Alex’s leadership, SoundCloud has accomplished exponential growth and, today, has more than 12 million creators heard on the platform every month.
Yaël is a former CIA analyst, national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, diplomat, CSR strategist for a Fortune 5 company, and head of a global political risk firm. She speaks, writes and consults on topics at the intersection of security, political and humanitarian issues. She has been published in the New York Times, TIME and The Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN, CBS News and C-SPAN. She is the founder of Kilele Global, providing intelligence-based advice to help companies operating in emerging markets do so smartly and with purpose.
Hector was born in Mexico City, and has always been fascinated by the tension between technology, art, and design. His major focus is attempting to harness that tension to create products and experiences that make our lives more productive, enjoyable, and inspiring. Uncertain of his direction he graduated with a BS in Computer Science from the UDLAP, and a MA in Interaction Design from the Interaction Design Institute of Ivrea in Italy.
Between obtaining his degrees he took on real jobs doing interface design for HP, among others. Next, he joined the MIT Mobile Experience Lab and later found his way to Google, where he’s worked on multiple products (Android, Android TV, Sky Map, Docs, Maps, etc) and led teams on multiple continents. Presently he leads Design for all Google Search and Assist related products. He now resides in California with his wife and daughter, bikes to work every day, and is still trying to answer that fundamental question: How can we make tech + art + design = happiness?
(Picture credits to Toby Peet.)
Dr. Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist based in Mountain View, California, USA, and is the Chief Science Officer of SENS Research Foundation, a California-based 501(c)(3) biomedical research charity that performs and funds laboratory research dedicated to combating the aging process. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Rejuvenation Research, the world’s highest-impact peer-reviewed journal focused on intervention in aging. He received his BA in computer science and Ph.D. in biology from the University of Cambridge. His research interests encompass the characterisation of all the types of self-inflicted cellular and molecular damage that constitute mammalian aging and the design of interventions to repair and/or obviate that damage. Dr. de Grey is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association, and sits on the editorial and scientific advisory boards of numerous journals and organisations.
Born in 1977 in Sweden, Erika Lust is a filmmaker, mother, writer and entrepreneur; plus the owner and founder of Erika Lust Films, where she offers an alternative to the mainstream porn industry.
She is the creator of award-winning crowdsourced erotic project XConfessions.com where people share their sexual stories and fantasies. Each month Erika chooses two and turns them into captivating, arousing, cinematic explicit short films driven by sexually intelligent and sex-positive narratives, that reflect her views on sex as a healthy and a natural part of life that we should celebrate.
She has recently launched the online cinema www.EroticFilms.com to keep campaigning for a more ethical porn consumption. Erika and her team license films from a growing movement of directors that is trying to change the industry from within. Films that are done under the same ethical production values Erika has at Erika Lust Films.
Tom is a general partner at GV. Prior to GV, Tom was a design director at IDEO Europe. He founded OpenIDEO, an open innovation platform where 100,000 users from more than 170 countries solve challenges for social good. Tom also launched OIEngine, a SaaS platform with clients including Harvard Business School and the Knight Foundation.
Prior to IDEO, Tom was managing director of Marcos, a British sports car manufacturer and founded Magnom, a magnetic filter startup. Tom’s filter designs have been widely used in Formula One, superbikes, agricultural equipment, and central heating systems. He has also angel-invested in more than 20 companies, including as the founding investor in Mile IQ (sold to Microsoft).
Tom has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and has been featured in WIRED UK’s Top 100 Digital Power Brokers list every year since the list was established. He has also been included in the Evening Standard list of London’s 1000 Most Influential People.
Rolf Schrömgens is an innovative German entrepreneur, who is best known for his role as Founder and Managing Director for trivago GmbH. Pushing the boundaries of data-driven product development and rethinking the way that tech companies nurture and develop their talents are among his expertise. Parallel to spending his time at trivago, he is also President of the Entrepreneur’s Organization in Germany. Previously, Rolf was head of VP Product & Strategy at Ciao.com. Born and raised in Mönchengladbach, Rolf attended HHL (Leipzig Graduate School of Management).
Former German Vice-Chancellor Philipp Rösler commands an impressive CV. His career in politics has seen him serve as Minister for Economics and Technology, Minister of Health, and as Federal Chairman of the Free Democratic Party. He currently serves as a Member of the Managing Board, and Head of Regional and Government Engagement at the World Economic Forum.
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