ForumOxford: Future Technologies Conference

24 April 2009 - our next conference is on 23 April 2010.

Click here for Jonathan Marks' review of the 2009 conference.

Please send me details of the next ForumOxford Future Technologies Conference on 23 April 2010.

Would you like to sponsor the 2010 conference? Click here to email us for further details.

The April 2009 conference was sponsored by:


About the Conference

The Technology Programme at the Oxford University Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Centre is pleased to announce the third ForumOxford: Future Technologies Conference to be held on 24 April 2009 at the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education.

This one-day conference will explore emerging technologies with an emphasis on Mobile / Web 2.0 innovations.

Unlike many of the large impersonal conferences, this conference aims to facilitate discussion between the audience and speakers. This informal event has been designed to allow time for Q&A and also for further discussions of the conference topics during breaks and over lunch.

Why you should attend this conference (video courtesy of Jonathan Marks).

Make sure you watch this video first - http://vimeo.com/3789169

What previous attendees said about the conference:
‘Thanks for a great day - this ranks in the top ten of any industry networking event I have attended over the past 20 years. Excellent profile and mixture of attendees and presentations, and discussion at internet speed - vibrant and engaging...’
Martin Davis, CEO, Mobiya
‘I came away with ideas to activate immediately, relationships which I know I can work with in the future and a ready-made support network of brilliant individuals I can share and work with. I’ve never attended a one-day event of this kind of value.’
David Cushman, Network Engagement Director, Emap

Conference Speakers and Presentation Slides 2009

(speakers shown in order of presentations)

Click here for Jonathan Marks' review of the 2009 conference.

The conference will be chaired by:

17:00 finish followed by the drinks reception

Pre-conference training courses

This year we will also be running two training courses in the days prior to the conference:

LTE services: Business models and strategies for new services beyond 3G including – HSDPA, Mobile Web 2.0, devices and content
(20-21 April 2009)

This course discusses the evolution and creation of services as networks upgrade to LTE and explores both services and business models for leveraging the network capabilities 'beyond 3G' including HSDPA.

The course covers: New services based on enhanced capacity of the network, IP based business models, Services unique to LTE and the core network, Social networks based on rich content like video, next generation voice services, user-generated content, unified communication, fixed mobile integration, Femtocells and Wi-Fi, wireless sensor networks and more.

Presenters:

  • Ajit Jaokar, Mobile Telecoms Specialist and Author
  • Martin Sauter, Wireless Consultant, Nortel


Mobile as 7th of the Mass Media
(22 – 23 April 2009)

The course is an overview to mobile as a new media channel, and places mobile as the 7th mass media channel into context of the legacy six mass media (print, recordings, cinema, radio, TV and internet) with lessons from previous transitions.

The course covers the unique competitive advantages of mobile as a mass media channel as well as discusses the perceived shortcomings such as tiny screen size and small keypad.

The presenters give a broad range of examples of successful media concepts for mobile including music, gaming, news, video, social networking etc with emphasis on the consumer experience and the business models of innovative media concepts in mobile. Convergence with legacy media, in particular internet, television and print, are covered.

The course is non-technical in nature but covers relevant tools such as the 6 M's mobile service creation tool and environment. All who attend the course will receive a copy of Tomi Ahonen's latest book Mobile as 7th of the Mass Media.

Presenters:

  • Tomi T. Ahonen MBA, Independent 3G Strategy Consultant and Author
  • Alan Moore, Author and CEO of SMLXL
  • David Cushman, Director of Social Media, Brando Digital

Pre-conference meeting

There will be an informal pre-conference get-together on the evening of Thursday 23 April starting from about 20:00. As with last year, we are meeting at the Royal Oak pub, 42 Woodstock Rd, Oxford, OX2 6HT, which serves a fine selection of real beers and pub food.

The Royal Oak is a short walk from the conference venue and the centre of Oxford (Map here). If the weather is good, we'll be in the garden at the back, if not, we'll be indoors (you should be able to find us OK as it's a small pub).

What happened at last year's conference

Watch the videos from last year's event here:

Forum Oxford Conference 2008 Review: Even better than last year (by Tomi Ahonen)

Photos of the 2008 conference on Flickr (courtesy of Jonathan Marks) - click here

There will be a drinks reception in the Common Room bar and courtyard at Rewley House from about 17:00

Free wireless internet access will be available throughout the day.

We have a number of meeting rooms which will be freely available to those attending if required.

Who should attend?

Web and mobile technology experts and visionaries, telecoms leaders and anyone who has an interest in future mobile technologies with an emphasis on Mobile / Web 2.0 innovations.

Venue

Rewley House, Department for Continuing Education, Oxford, OX1 2JA.

First day registration from 08:30 when event materials will be distributed.

Refreshments from 08:30 on the first day plus two 30 minute breaks during the day and a one-hour lunch break.

The event will begin at 09:00 and end at approximately 17:00. This will be followed by a drinks reception at Rewley House.

Free wireless internet access will be available during this event to all those attending.

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How to Register

Please read our terms & conditions, including details of our registration procedure and payment methods, before registering.

£205 including refreshments, three-course lunch and post-conference drinks.

Register Now

If you would like to pay using a company purchase order / bank transfer, note that we cannot confirm any registration until payment has been received. Click here for details.

If you have any questions about this event please contact the Course Administrator on +44 (0)1865 286958 or email Technology@conted.ox.ac.uk

Sponsorship Opportunities

We have a number of sponsorship packages available starting at just £500. Email us and we'll send you an information pack.

ForumOxford, the web-discussion forum of the Technology Programme, was established to bring together the best thinkers in the telecoms industry to enable the sharing of ideas on all aspects of mobile applications with other like-minded members of the community. ForumOxford has been a huge success and now has over 2000 members with participants from 87 countries and from six continents. Figures correct as of 9 February 2009.

The lively online debate within ForumOxford's online environment resulted in numerous approaches asking for a face-to-face event to capitalize on this success. ForumOxford: Future Technologies Conference is the answer to these requests. Furthermore, participation in the ForumOxford: Future Technologies Conference will provide access to the leading bloggers in the emerging web and mobile technology fields and as all those attending last year discovered, a great place to meet others who are leading the way in the world of mobile applications. In a poll by the leading New York publication Fierce Wireless, the top 20 mobile blogs worldwide included as many as six blogs belonging to ForumOxford members.

Ajit Jaokar, conference co-chairperson and moderator of ForumOxford, is an author and telecoms specialist and has recently taught the 'User-Generated Content and Web 2.0' CPD course at Oxford University. Ajit also founded Futuretext, which is an innovative publishing and consulting company focused on mobility and digital convergence - he is perfectly positioned to comment on the conference: 'Creating ForumOxford along with Tomi Ahonen, and watching it grow so rapidly has been a fascinating experience. The high-level sponsorship of our event only goes to emphasise the quality of our membership and discussions. I am thankful for the foresight and support provided by the Oxford University in setting up ForumOxford'.

Tomi Ahonen, conference co-chairperson and independent 3G strategy consultant and author, who teaches the 'Mobile Social Networking' and '3G/MobileTV' Oxford University CPD courses, comments 'I am very proud of the high level of professional discussion we maintain within ForumOxford. It makes me very proud to promote the Forum and to recruit new members. I personally keep on learning constantly from the various discussion topics.'

The University of Oxford's Technology Programme has met the needs of the industry by doubling the number of courses offered in the past year, particularly in emerging fields in the industry such as Web 2.0 and mobile technologies.

Hotel Information

If you would like information about accommodation in Oxford, click the link below and we will send you further information:

Please send me information about accommodation in Oxford.

Travel Information

Oxford is 52 miles (83 km) from London and travel between the two is very easy and services run 24 hours each day.

Rail Travel
The railway station lies to the west of the city centre and it is only a short 5-minute walk or taxi ride to the venue. Journey time London-Oxford is approximately 1 hour and trains are frequent. There is a taxi rank at the railway station and a bus service to the centre.
For train times to/from all parts of the UK, visit www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Bus / Coach Travel (London-Oxford)
There are two excellent, 24 hour, non-stop motorway express services between Oxford and London which provide a substantially cheaper alternative to rail. These run approximately every 15 minutes day and night. Journey time is about 1 hour 30 minutes (depending on traffic).

These buses travel from London (Marble Arch, Victoria Coach Station and Grosvenor Gardens) to Oxford Gloucester Green bus & coach station (between Beaumont St and George St.). From Gloucester Green bus station it is a 2-minute short walk venue.

Heathrow/Gatwick Airport buses to Oxford
For delegates arriving from Heathrow or Gatwick there are also reliable coach services run by the Oxford Bus Company.

  • Heathrow: – average journey time: 1hr 10mins with buses running every ½ hour.
  • Gatwick: – average journey time: 2hrs 10mins with buses running every hour.
Both services terminate at Gloucester Green, the main bus station in Oxford. From Gloucester Green it is a short walk or taxi ride to the venue. See www.oxfordbus.co.uk/airline1.html

For delegates flying to London Stanstead or Luton Airport there are less frequent coach and rail connections with Oxford. See the National Express Airports web site for more information: www.nationalexpress.com/destinations/airports.cfm

Bus / Coach Travel
For bus / coach travel to/from all parts of the UK see www.nationalexpress.com

Oxford Taxis
Radiotaxis + 44 (0) 1865 242424, Oxford City Taxis +44 (0) 1865 794000/201201

Car Travel
Please note that Rewley House does not offer any car parking facilities.

Motorcycle parking is available adjacent to Rewley House on the residential parking bays with no requirement for a permit. For those who require disabled parking please notify us in advance to enable us to make the necessary arrangements.

In common with other historic cities Oxford was not built with motor transport in mind. There is a one-way system and parking, especially overnight parking, is a serious problem. If you are driving to Oxford on the day of the conference it is advisable to use the park & ride service. There are 5 large park & ride areas on the city approaches with free parking and frequent bus services into the city centre.

For further information on the park and ride please see www.parkandride.net.

If you are staying in Oxford for the conference, it is not advisable to leave your car overnight in the park & ride car parks, so we recommend you check parking availability with your accommodation.

Our Sponsors

Please click the images below to visit our sponsors' websites.

Mi-Pay

Mi-Pay provides mobile initiated payment services for mobile operators, financial services providers and media owners amongst others from our offices in the UK, Romania, UAE and Pakistan. In addition to providing an indemnified top-up service and stored value accounts, Mi-Pay are also building full domestic and international money and airtime transfer services for operator groups in four continents using the existing pre-pay top up street sellers and vendors as financial service providers. This places Mi-Pay at the forefront of one of the major evolutions in mobile phone services deploying financial services through phone-based agent networks throughout the developing world…

OMTP

OMTP is an operator-sponsored forum that serves the needs of each and every link in the mobile phone value chain by gathering and driving mobile terminal requirements. There are currently 8 full members: AT&T, Hutchison 3G, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, T-Mobile and Vodafone. OMTP also has the support of 2 sponsors: Ericsson and Nokia. There are a total of 38 participants from all parts of the industry; including Application software, hardware and the OS space. OMTP is operator driven, but it is scoped to serve the industry as a whole.

Our thanks to Nokia for its continued support of ForumOxford and education.

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