What can we all expect on the Inspirefest 2017 stage?

28 Mar 2017

Ann O’Dea, Inspirefest founder. Image: Conor McCabe Photography

Inspirefest returns to Dublin this year, with robotics, infosec and the future of work just some of the themes on show.

Taking place from 6-8 July, Inspirefest is less than four months away, and numerous speakers are already confirmed for the Dublin event.

A festival of technology, science, design and the arts, Inspirefest’s upcoming show will be the third in the event’s history, having recently branched out into international satellite salons this year.

This July, the Inspirefest robotics session will be a big draw, with Ana Matronic (of Scissor Sisters fame) the main attraction.

Matronic is a BBC Click contributor, and her first full-length book, Robot Takeover: 100 Iconic Robots of Myth, Popular Culture and Real Life, was published in 2015.

Following last year’s well-received soft robotics session, National University of Ireland Galway researcher Dr Ellen Roche will discuss her soft robotic sleeve, a device published in Science Translational Medicine in January.

Ellen Pao, a major player in the tech and investment world, will also join Backstage Capital’s Arlan Hamilton; founder of Kiva and Branch, Matt Flannery; Bell Labs president and Nokia corporate CTO, Marcus Weldon; and Sugru founder Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh at the event.

Elsewhere, Symantec’s Tarah Wheeler will be discussing all things infosec, while Leanne Kemp, founder of Everledger (named Best Blockchain Company at the Financial Tech Awards 2016), will be the main attraction for the fintech session.

Inma Martinez, venture partner at Deep Science Ventures, will be there discussing artificial intelligence and data, an industry growing in importance by the day, and by the download. Intercom’s Karen Church, a data scientist who cut her teeth at Yahoo, will also take the stage.

Sandra Henke, director of people and culture at Hays Worldwide, will join Thomas Jelley of the Sodexo Institute for Quality of Life to discuss the future of work.

Raju Narisetti, CEO of Gizmodo Media Group; Lesley Tully, head of design thinking at Bank of Ireland; and Dr Anita Sands, board member at Symantec, will also feature at the event.

More speakers have yet to be added to the line-up, with those already confirmed subject to change.

Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Book now to get your Early Bird tickets.

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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