Just under one month from now, Milton Keynes Tech Week will bring together business leaders, innovators, researchers, investors and local communities for more than 35 events taking place across the city from 12 to 16 October.
Returning for its second year following the success of the inaugural event, which attracted more than 23,000 attendees, Tech Week will showcase the ideas, technologies and businesses helping to shape the future of Milton Keynes and the wider UK economy.
Funded by Milton Keynes City Council as the lead sponsor, and delivered by Protospace CIC, the week-long programme highlights the city's growing reputation as a centre for innovation. Milton Keynes is home to more than 2,400 tech businesses, generates £3.4 billion in technology-related economic activity and continues to attract investment, talent and pioneering organisations.
The official Tech Week Conference, hosted by BBC Technology Editor Zoe Kleinman at Unity Place on 15 October, will feature leading voices from government, industry and academia discussing the technologies, data and infrastructure that will drive the UK's future prosperity.
Tickets for the Milton Keynes Official Tech Week Conference are available now, with the event offering an opportunity to hear directly from leading figures in technology, government and business.
Across the week, visitors can take part in events covering artificial intelligence, robotics, entrepreneurship, digital skills and emerging technologies. Highlights include RoboPASS, exploring the future of robotics and autonomous technology in cities; the Accelerating AI Conference, featuring experts from Google, Canva and Microsoft; Female Techpreneur's Future Builder Hackathon for women and girls; the TC Group Pitch Event for ambitious start-ups; and HAYS Women in Tech, celebrating and supporting women's careers in the technology sector.
The programme also features events and spekaers from organisations including Smart City Consultancy, The Open University, NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator, Central Arc Angels, Biztech, PyData Milton Keynes, MK Geek Night, Overt STEM, and many others, reflecting the breadth of the city's innovation community.
"Milton Keynes has built a reputation for embracing innovation and working with businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs to turn new ideas into real-world opportunities. Tech Week is a chance to celebrate that success and showcase the talent, creativity and ambition that can be found across our city.
"From artificial intelligence and robotics to entrepreneurship and digital skills, this year's programme offers something for everyone. We're proud to support this week of events that brings people together, attracts investment and helps strengthen Milton Keynes' position as one of the UK's leading technology and innovation hubs."
“The strength of Milton Keynes' technology ecosystem is the diversity of organisations and people working across it, and the programme gives us an opportunity to bring those communities together.
“The official conference gives us a chance to have some big conversations about sovereign technology and the UK's tech future, while the wider programme demonstrates the extraordinary range of activity already happening across the city.
“We're delighted with the calibre of speakers joining us this year and particularly pleased to see so many organisations taking an active role in shaping the week.”
Tickets and the full programme are available now at: miltonkeynestechweek.com