The Economist Launches 2010 Event Series on the Ideas Economy

Jared Diamond, Robert Reich, Ray Kurzweil, Michael Porter, Larry Brilliant, Jacqueline Novogratz and Many More Participate in Inaugural Event at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business

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The Economist

Feb 11, 2010, 09:00 ET

LONG BEACH, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Because human progress relies on the advancement of the best ideas, The Economist is launching a new series of events that bring together top thinkers from around the world to discuss and debate the most important ideas of our time. By focusing on Innovation, Intelligent Infrastructure, and Human Potential, The Economist will frame an ecosystem where good ideas move from concept to implementation, fueled by the power of human ingenuity, and where only the best survive.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100211/NY53236LOGO)

Today at a luncheon at the TED conference, Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Correspondent for The Economist, announced the inaugural event, "Innovation: Fresh thinking for the ideas economy," which will be held at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley on March 23 and 24. The goal of this event is to expand or overturn established thinking about what innovation is, where it comes from, and how to make it work. Attendees will experience hands-on design, strategy, and problem solving with some of today's leading industry leaders and innovators. Some will leave the event with tangible ideas for how to disrupt their industries, and ideas for their next breakthrough product or company.

Dozens of top global innovators will join Vaitheeswaran and a group of The Economist journalists at this multi-part event unlike any other organized event on the topic. Innovators include Jared Diamond, author of "Guns, Germs and Steel," futurists Ray Kurzweil and Paul Saffo, leading social entrepreneurs Larry Brilliant formerly of Google.org and now president of Skoll Urgent Threats Fund, and Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen Fund. Additional speakers include Mark Bernstein, CEO PARC, Tim Brown, CEO IDEO, James Wilsdon, Chief Scientist of The Royal Academy, and Michael Porter and Clayton Christensen, who will be participating in an interactive video discussion with some of the leading health care innovators. The full program is available at http://ideas.economist.com.

An Oxford-style debate will feature former labor secretary, Robert Reich, against leading libertarian economist and blogger, Tyler Cowen. Together, Reich and Cowen will examine the genesis of good ideas, question whether we live in a flat world, discuss the costs and benefits of crowd-sourcing, the power of social entrepreneurship, the role of government in catalyzing innovation, leveraging failure, finding innovation in a crisis, organizing the teams of tomorrow, the phenomenon of reverse innovation, the future of open innovation, and how old economy actors are being disrupted in the new economy.

Registration is $1500 and limited to 200 attendees. For the program and other event details, please visit: http://ideas.economist.com.

About The Economist (www.economist.com)

Edited in London since 1843, The Economist is a weekly international news and business publication offering clear reporting, commentary and analysis on world politics, business, finance, science, technology, culture, society, media and the arts. The Economist has a North American circulation of 813,000, a global circulation of more than 1.4 million and 4 million monthly unique visitors at Economist.com. Because of its international editorial perspective, it is read by more of the world's political and business leaders than any other magazine.

About Haas School of Business (www.haas.berkeley.edu)

Haas School of Business is the Host Sponsor for the inaugural Ideas Economy event on Innovation. For over 100 years, the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, has offered a superb management education to outstanding men and women from around the world. The School is one of the world's leading producers of new ideas and knowledge for all areas of business, and a launching point for many new businesses. The Haas School is widely known for its diverse and talented faculty, staff, students and alumni. They have created an innovative academic culture that stresses cooperative teamwork, entrepreneurship, a global point of view, and an emphasis on new ideas and fresh perspectives. The school's programs benefit significantly from the university's practice of interdisciplinary research and teaching, and the school's strong connections to nearby Silicon Valley.

SOURCE The Economist