Speakers from BBC, Buzzfeed, Spotify and Microsoft will be in Leeds next week, as part of the Leeds Digital Festival.
In total there are 53 events taking place across the city, and more than 160 speakers.
“The Festival is a chance to get inspired, innovate, network and learn from people in the industry. It will showcase and celebrate how music, digital and simply thinking differently is making huge changes to every aspect of life, and how Leeds is at the heart of this,” explained Natasha Sayce-Zelem, head of technology at Sky and steering group member.
“I’m really proud to live in Leeds, in my opinion it is the most vibrant and diverse creative community outside of London and that can be seen in action with the vast array of events on offer. The festival is designed by the community, for the community so make sure you get involved and get inspired as it’s going to be a fun week.”
In addition to the talks, there’s a link up with the Live at Leeds music festival, with a full day of digital music events, including an ‘Algorave’ where coding and music combine. There’s also a UK debut for Code in the Dark, where 30 developers battle it out, but can’t see what they’re creating.
“Technology has a key role to play in the economic development of our region and its part in the northern powerhouse. According to research, there are at least 3,000 businesses in the region which call themselves “Digital”,” added Graham Pearce, head of technology of festival sponsor, KPMG.
“The Leeds Digital Festival is a celebration of what we have and we are very excited to be a part of it. One of the issues which we hear a lot about in the market is the ability for entrepreneurs and start-up tech businesses to attract investment to help them scale. So the panel we have assembled for our funding4tech event will be debating this and hopefully giving tech businesses access to a network and some knowledge they find valuable”
