Angel investor and internet evangelist Joakim Jardenberg surprised everyone a while ago when he took up a part time job for the government – working as the Head of Internet at the City of Helsingborg. Now, as part his job, he is behind organising a conference humbly called The Future Conference – a conference that sets out to bring important topics to the fore-front, and that is aimed at both entrepreneurs, businessmen and public workers.

The line-up includes very prominent Swedish thinkers and doers. And best of all – the conference is free to attend.

“The future is often painted in dark colors. When the Swedish Future Commission looked forward to the years between 2020 and 2050 they talked about climate change and environmental degradation, the problems of migration and integration, about an aging population and about growing social exclusion and democratic disinterest.”

Joakims comments when talking about the conference. His aim with the conference is to change this.

“The Future Conference is about bringing colors to the picture. We believe that the only thing we know with certainty about the future is that it will not be as we expect, and what today looks like challenges and problems instead may be opportunities. We allow ourselves simply to be optimists and believe that the technology is seen as a threat instead can be a springboard for new solutions.”

Half-day conference and After Work

After the conference Media Evolution will hold one of it’s Worlds Best After Work. As usually this will be a selection of media, tech and business. Partners for the after work include Gertrud, mplusm and the THINK lean startup incubator.

Speakers include

  • Anthropologist Katarina Graffman, who has answers about what the future holds. Through her deep study of young people’s needs, motivations and behaviors she gives and in-depth of how it looks now, but also help us to draw lines forward. It is about trying to understand the people around us, and what could be more important?
  • Hampus Jakobsson, business angel and serial entrepreneur. He is one of the Nordics most prominent business angels and investors, and he has a thousand ideas about how we make decisions for the future. He is known to be honest, insightful and uncompromising – totally free of bullshit.
  • Teo Härén, from interesting.org. A thinker with opinions, and widely considered one of the best speakers and has been awarded as “Sweden’s most inspiring person”. He has for years been known to proclaim the important of creativity and seeing work in a new way.
  • Ellen Sundh, who is undoubtedly one of the Nordics most geeky people – in all its most positive meanings. She builds up the physical and digital worlds in the most unexpected way, with everything from shoe racks to the giant claw-machine, Big Claw. She runs her own company Coda Collective where she offers creative enterprises in the form of interactive installations and machinery. She will provide her unique view of where we are, and where we are headed.

Beata Wickbom and Joakim Jardenberg will be moderators during the day.

In all it sounds like a very impressive event. Like everything else Joakim does you can be sure to find it live-streamed on Bambuser as well – so if you cannot make it, there will be ways to see what is said on stage. Keep a look out for anything with the #futuretech hashtag.

The Future Conference is a part of the week-long business week in Helsingborg, which has a cross-border theme this year, with part of it’s programme in Elinsgor.

When: 7 october 2014, 13:00 – 17.00
Where: Arena Helsingborg
Registration – conference: This event is part of the Helsingborg Business Week. Registration for the future conference done at the official site.
Registration – After Work: Here.