Innovation Expert Ordnance Survey Keynote Speaker

In 2008 The Spectator Magazine described Charles as "the wizard of the web" while Accenture, the global management consultancy, ranks him as one of the top management thinkers in the world.
Charles comments: “My keynote address will focus on how mass collaboration and geography can be harnessed to tackle the global challenges Terra future has identified. Mass collaboration poses challenges to established approaches to creating and sharing geographic information but there are also huge opportunities to map our world together in new ways that are richer, more fruitful and informative.”

The Terra future 2009 conference, to be held on the 24–25 February, will put the spotlight on the connective power of geography and mass collaboration. Both are key tools in achieving sustainable living, tackling climate change and building successful transport infrastructure.

The event is aimed at key influencers, innovators and entrepreneurs from among the business, government, third sector and academic communities. A range of online resources will also be available, with the goal of creating a Terra future community that can continue to work together.

Charles Leadbeater has worked extensively as a senior adviser to the government over the past decade, advising the 10 Downing St Policy Unit, the Department for Trade and Industry and the European Commission on the rise of the knowledge-driven economy and the Internet. The Financial Times has identified him as the outstanding innovation expert in the UK. He is now an adviser to the Department for Education's Innovation Unit on future strategies for more networked and personalised approaches to learning and education.

Alongside Charles Leadbeater, confirmed speakers include Ian Pearson, a futurologist at Futurizon, a start-up futures institute; Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, founding Chair of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA); and Robin Mannings, a BT expert on disruptive technologies and author of the book ‘Ubiquitous Positioning’.

Previous Terra future events, held in 2005 and 2006, were widely supported and included presentations from Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, and Peter Cochrane OBE, a former chief technologist at BT.