Suvi Linden, the United Nations’ Commissioner for Broadband Digital Development, will be in Bristol next week to attend NextGen 11 – the UK’s leading broadband technology conference and exhibition.

Linden, Commissioner of the United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development, will talk about global perspectives in broadband. There will also be a video address from Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission. Other leading broadband specialists gathered for the event, being held at the UWE (University of West England) Exhibition and Conference Centre in Bristol, include: Chris Holden, President of the FTTH Council Europe, Bill Murphy, Managing Director, NGA BT Group, and Bill Mackenzie, Business Unit Director for Carrier Solutions at Fujitsu.

NextGen 11 organiser Marit Hendriks commented: “The agenda for this year’s NextGen has been designed to give visitors several options – a choice of workshops on specialised topics, plenary sessions with keynote presentations from our sponsors and special guest speakers and panellists will all make up this exciting event.”

NextGen’s workshop programme looks set to be one of the main attractions at this year’s event. Key topics up for discussion include broadband strategies and how they can motivate growth in the future economy, broadband delivery via satellite and rural broadband delivery.

The conference will also feature, for the first time ever, the NextGen Challenge, which is an awards ceremony designed to give companies the opportunity to highlight achievements in developing and deploying better broadband. The awards, which will be presented by Councillor Geoffrey Gollop – The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Bristol, are set to showcase the best in next generation digital access infrastructure innovation. They will run alongside the conference and consist of three categories: Rural Leadership and Community Development, Innovative Funding and Collaborative Advantage.

“We’re eager to launch the NextGen Challenge as part of the NextGen conference this year. We’ve received some remarkable applications for the awards and have some big names judging each of the three categories. Norman Apsley, CEON at NI Science Park Foundation Ltd, Antony Walker, Chief Executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, and David Harrington of CMA will be selecting the winners who will be announced at the official conference dinner at Bordeaux Quay on Bristol's harbourside on 15 November,” said Hendriks.

NextGen 11 is being hosted by Bristol City Council and will also include a special tour of Bristol’s new Enterprise Zone targeted at planners and urban property developers.

ENDS