First speakers for ‘NBS Live: Digital Thinking, Smart Building’ conference announced

July 2014

A diverse mix of industry experts, from both within and outside construction, will lead the speaker line up at this year’s NBS Live conference. Titled ‘Digital Thinking Smart Building’, the one-day conference will consider how the industry needs to evolve to maximise the opportunities presented by developments in digital technology.

As with last year’s successful inaugural event, the day will be split into four major themes – BIM, Design, Sustainability and Business & Practice – each led by an expert in the field.

Confirmed speakers include: Dr Rick Robinson, Executive Architect, Smarter Cities at IBM; Dan Hill, Executive Director Futures & Best Practice Future Cities Catapult; Maria Slowinska, Innovation Programme Manager Cisco CREATE; David Philp, Head of BIM Implementation, Cabinet Office; Andy Redfearn, Director of Housing & Development, YMCA London South West; and Simon Cochrane, Director of Design – UK / Europe, Westfield.

They will be joined by leading architects, including Simon Allford of AHMM and Harbinder Singh Birdi of Hawkins\Brown, as well as engineers and other professionals to discuss and share thinking on how design and construction can continue to thrive in a digital age. Subjects under discussion will include how the ‘internet of things’ will impact on design, and how technology can be used to change the way cities perform. BIM will again be a key topic, particularly with the 2016 deadline for use on public sector projects rapidly approaching. The Sustainability stream will look at new metrics and the potential for off-site construction, whilst how to become a ‘future practice’ will be considered by experts in Business & Practice.

Early bird tickets are now available [LINK REMOVED - NO LONGER CURRENT] for the conference which is being held on 4 November 2014 at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. More speakers will be announced in the next few weeks.