The two-day NextGen12 conference (8 and 9 October) will signal the start of a new awareness of the need for very different thinking in the digital economy. The conference will embrace a wide range of views and look for progress in all network ‘access’ technologies, across all parts of the UK and in all sectors of the economy.

Headline speaker for the first day of NextGen12 Dr. Peter Cochrane, former director of research at BT, will kick-off by characterising ‘last generation’ technologies as ‘wasteful and destructive’ but will also say he sees a brighter future “at the cusp of nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, ITC and Artificial Intelligence.  The problems facing us today and tomorrow will not,” he says, “be solved by changing all the light bulbs.”

NextGen12 is being held this year at Church House, Westminster – the first time in five years that the conference has been held in London.  It’s a timely shift as the issues and action around Next Generation digital networks are at the top of the agenda for all concerned with economic recovery.

Launching the NextGen12 agenda, Director Marit Hendriks, commented, “We are delighted that Dr. Cochrane will bring to the conference his visionary enthusiasm and insight to inform and energise all those working to achieve digital infrastructure investment and a greater awareness of the impacts of a digital economy on all our lives.”

The conference will feature presentations from Lord Inglewood (Chair of the Lords Communications Committee), Robert Madelin (Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology [DG Connect] at the European Commission), Simon Towler (Head of Spectrum, Broadband and international ICT policy at DCMS), Liv Garfield (CEO BT Openreach), Adam Ashenden (Market Manager Prysmian Group) and Nicholas James (CEO UK Broadband). There will be strong focus on the Connected Cities programme and the impacts of the digital economy in rural areas.

The conference is supported by the City of Westminster whose representative will speak in a joint session with O2 on the recently-launched public WiFi service – ‘From Oxford Tweet to Leicester Share’ - and the conference dinner (in the Palace of Westminster – 8 October) includes the NextGen Challenge awards ceremony.

The event features exhibitors from every part of the UK’s networking industry including fibre, wireline, mobile, wireless and satellite technologies and many examples of independent local operators.

“We have a great agenda,” commented Marit Hendriks, “and we have speakers and exhibitors who are facing up to the infrastructure investment needs of the UK’s digital economy.  Attending and being a part of this event should be a high priority for Local Government and business developers from all corners of the UK.”