UK Government Launches Designing Our Future Campaign, Showcasing the Best of British Innovation, with a Three-Day Event in New York

Running April 2-4, Designing Our Future will kick off a cross-North America campaign to spotlight Britain's transatlantic partnerships that are solving society's shared challenges, from healthy aging to sustainable urban transit solutions

NEW YORK, March 13, 2019 /CNW/ -- The UK's Department for International Trade today announced Designing Our Future, a dynamic business event that showcases British innovations and thought leadership in technology and policy.

The three-day event, to be held in New York City from April 2-4, will convene more than 100 thought leaders, influencers, entrepreneurs and decision-makers across key industries ranging from technology and mobility to sustainability in the fashion industry. They will discuss the challenges facing our contemporary economies and explore innovations and ideas that will Design Our Future.

Hosted at The Altman Building in lower Manhattan with more than 1,000 expected attendees, the event will include thought leadership seminars, workshops, conversations, panels and keynotes. Headline speakers include Harper's Bazaar Editor-In-Chief Dame Glenda Bailey, tech evangelist, digital skills expert and social entrepreneur Professor Sue Black, OBE and famed horologist Dr. Roger Smith, OBE.

Susan le Jeune d'Allegeershecque, British High Commissioner to Canada, said:

"The UK is a global leader in business and innovation. Designing Our Future highlights links between them and demonstrates how British companies are rising to meet some of the great challenges facing society today. But we aren't doing it alone, UK and Canadian partnerships are creating solutions to make our economic development more sustainable or keep us healthier as we age. Britain's extensive professional network of business experts throughout Canada are ready to provide advice and help to Canadian businesses looking to invest in the UK, or to source products from our world-leading companies. The UK exported $14.4 billion CAD of goods and services to Canada in 2016, and the future is bright for continued UK-Canadian partnerships."

Experts at the event will discuss future-looking innovation in a variety of sectors ranging from AI and fintech to healthy aging and urban transit. Discussions will include Mike McGee, co-founder of multi-Oscar-winning Framestore, exploring how technology is shaping immersive storytelling. 

DisruptHR will explore the future of the workplace and how talent, culture and technology convene. And attendees will get a sneak peek at select pieces from the UK's Design Museum before they move on for exhibit at New York's Pratt Institute. 

Additional sessions will include:

• 11:FS presents Fintech Insider: Live, supported by De La Rue. Sam Maule, Managing Director of 11:FS, will be joined by Dr. Natalie Ceeney of Innovate Finance and Richard Hird of De La Rue. With more speakers to be announced, the live podcast recording will showcase UK fintech and discuss the Future of Money in the UK, US and around the world;

• "Venturing Through the Glass Ceiling: Closing the VC Gap for Female Founders" with Alice Hu Wagner of British Business Bank, Francesca Warner and Travis Winstanley of Diversity VC;

• "Healthy Aging: How to Add Five Healthy Years to Your Life," moderated by technology futurist and geopolitical expert Jamie Metzl and featuring Dr. Lynne Corner of UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing and George MacGinnis of UK Research and Innovation;

• "Transforming Urban Mobility: Sustainable Solutions and Innovative Technology" with Andy Byford, President of New York City Transit Authority, Crissy Ditmore, Director of Strategy of Cubic, and Dr. Anita Sengupta, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Airspace Experience Technologies;

• A Fireside Chat with Fashion Industry Icon: Dame Glenda Bailey, Editor-In-Chief of Harper's Bazaar, and Stuart Vevers, Creative Director of Coach, discussing the business of fashion, corporate and social responsibility of contemporary brands, and sustainability in the fashion industry;

• Experts from The Alan Turing Institute, Darktrace and Onfido discussing how AI is changing the future of work and industry.

To learn more about Designing Our Future, visit great.gov.uk/future, and follow along on social using the hashtag #GREATfuture.  For media interested in registering to attend Designing Our Future in New York, please click here.

Notes for Editors:

• UK companies and organizations are helping solve some of the greatest challenges of our generation, including the UK's four Grand Challenges: artificial intelligence and data, aging society, clean growth, and the future of mobility.
• The UK's economic success is underpinned by clean growth and low-carbon innovation. Since 1990, the UK has achieved a two-thirds increase in GDP while decreasing emissions by 40%. On March 7, the UK Government announced its Offshore Wind Sector Deal on GOV.UK
• Commercial partnerships for Designing Our Future include De La Rue, British Airways, Concise, and Imagination.

About the UK's Department for International Trade (DIT)  
With professional advisers, both within the UK and across more than 100 international markets, the Department for International Trade (DIT) is the Government Department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy and assists overseas companies to bring high-quality investment to the UK. The government recently set out its long-term Export Strategy to increase total exports as a proportion of GDP from the current 30% to 35%, and a new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) strategy reinforcing its current position as the No. 1 destination in Europe for FDI. 

The UK Government set out its Industrial Strategy to build a Britain fit for the future, and to help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future.

Media Contacts:
M Booth
Megan Hunsicker
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For media interviews with Antony Phillipson, HM Trade Commissioner for North America and British Consul General to New York, contact:
Patricia S. Edwards, Head of Communications, British Consulate General New York
[e-mail]

SOURCE The UK’s Department for International Trade