TED Announces Speaker Program for TEDGlobal 2012 Conference, "Radical Openness"

- Four-day stage program in Edinburgh, Scotland, to feature 70+ talks, performances and tech demos

NEW YORK, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, announces today its speaker program for TEDGlobal 2012, the organization's flagship Europe-based conference. Held annually in Edinburgh, Scotland, TEDGlobal will run from June 25 through June 29, and feature a range of inspired thinkers from around the globe. This year's theme is "Radical Openness."

"We've designed our program this year to reflect – and explore – the radically open world we live in today," said TED European Director and TEDGlobal curator Bruno Giussani. "Radical Openness will look at both the openness made possible by the internet and digital technology, as well as radical and open thinking writ large. TEDGlobal 2012's speakers will show us that all bets are off when it comes to what openness, collaboration and mutual understanding in an ultra-connected world mean for human potential."

TEDGlobal's ground-breaking speakers will range from a scientist whose iconoclastic approach led to cancer treatment breakthroughs, to a criminologist who studies future crimes – that is, crimes that haven't been invented yet; from the MIT inventor of a camera that sees around corners, to a diva who creates live music using body gestures; from a neuroscientist imaging thousands of brains at work, to the military commander thinking about the global commons.

Two of the conference's sessions will be guest-hosted by neuroscientist Sarah Caddick and globalization expert Parag Khanna. Further speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

The detailed program and more information can be found online here: http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2012/.

850 people from over 40 countries are expected to attend. Around the world, people can watch the conference with a TED Live membership, the annual membership that offers access to a private live webstream of both the TED conference in California and TEDGlobal. The TED Live webcast comes complete with a digital platform to communicate in real time with fellow members. Other TED Live membership benefits include one year of TED Books (short eBooks by TED speakers and Fellows) and an Amazon Kindle Fire to view them on. Learn more here.

TEDGlobal 2012 conference is very nearly sold out. To apply for one of the last places, visit http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2012/.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators, the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Follow TED on Twitter or on Facebook.

Contact: Erin Allweiss, ted@groupsjr.com, +1-917-512-2118