We have many festivals running this year celebrating everything from food and drink to music and comedy. Now there’s one which will be debating, creating and reflecting on a diverse range of topics all under the banner of digital innovation.

The FESTIVAL OF IDEAS will explore new ways of thinking to make the world a better place. To celebrate our international academic, industry and community partners – with great food, music, art exhibitions, film screenings, and more. Now we realise this event isn’t for everyone, then again which one is. We did though become totally engrossed in one of the Keynote Speakers from last year’s event, Professor Ben Shneiderman.

From computers that play God, to cars that drive themselves and websites that seem to know what we want almost before we do.

In 1950s B-movies white-coated scientists poured frothing mixtures from test-tubes behind doors that said “No Entry”.Today science has broken free of the lab: during the annual BBC Springwatch tens of thousands of volunteers contribute to projects counting bees and butteries, ladybirds and hedgehogs. This ‘Citizen Science’ is real science, creating new
knowledge that is helping us understand the world during a time of rapid environmental change.

The festival gathers together a panel of international experts, but the day is for everyone: how we can all contribute and all learn.The FESTIVAL OF IDEAS runs on Tuesday 30th June from 9am till Wednesday 1st July at 4pm. It’s held at Computational Foundry on Fabian Way at Swansea University in Skewen. It is free to attend and if you’d like to get yourself a place, just go here. IDEAS

And to find out more about the full festival programme, go here. FESTIVAL