DLD 2015: The Digital Revolution is Still to Come

Entitled "It's Only The Beginning", the DLD (Digital, Life, Design) innovation conference from 18 - 20 January 2015 will focus on the influence of digitalisation on society, the world of work, industry, mobility, art and design.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150119/726622 )

In her opening speech, DLD founder Steffi Czerny explained: "The real digital revolution has not yet taken place - it is just beginning. But there is no reason to fear. We can shape the future and the digital revolution ourselves."

Publisher Hubert Burda is one of Germany's digital pioneers, and was one of the first to predict the fundamental changes the Internet would bring to the media. His new book Notizen zur digitalen Revolution (Notes on the Digital Revolution), presented at DLD15, is a collection of his thoughts on media developments from 1990 to 2015. After the invention of printing and the Internet, the Internet of Things is the next innovation to have a profound impact on the media landscape.

The far-reaching changes in the media landscape were also in evidence during the terrorist attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The role of print, online and social media was tackled by Ulrich Reitz, editor-in-chief of FOCUS, US journalist Jeff Jarvis and Bruno Patino of France Télévisions, who admitted that: "The footage of the attack appeared on Facebook before reaching the traditional media." The greatest challenge faced by journalists is to regain the public's trust.

Travis Kalanick, co-founder and CEO of taxi app Uber, spoke about the opportunities presented by digitalisation for the job market, mobility and environmental protection. He announced his wish to create 50,000 European jobs this year through Uber, and to create the necessary conditions in cooperation with European legislators. Uber is currently available in 270 countries worldwide.

Ed Vaizey (Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, UK) discussed entrepreneurship and the digital ecosystem in Europe alongside Axelle Lemaine, French Deputy Minister for Digital Affairs, and Timotheus Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. The central question was which political regulations can help further the digital economy in Europe.

Monday, 19 January will see a discussion of the influence exerted by digitalisation on health, the financial market, art and advertising. This will involve speakers such as David Marcus (Facebook), Oliver Samwer (European Founders Fund), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn/Greylock), Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post), Stewart Butterfield (Slack), Peter Barron (Google), David Hayes (Tumblr), Ian Robertson (BMW), Markus Braun (Wirecard), Julia Stoschek (Julia Stoschek Collection), Troy Carter (Atom Factory) and music producer Giorgio Moroder.

In addition, the Aenne Burda Award of Creative Leadership and the FOCUS Digital Star Award will both be presented.

Sessions will be streamed live by DLD Media at http://www.dld.co. Images from the conference can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hubertburdamedia/sets.

DLD 2015 at a glance: 

Background 

DLD is the international conference and innovation platform of Hubert Burda Media. DLD Media organises DLD (Europe's leading digital conference), the DLDwomen conference and international network events in cities such as Palo Alto, New York, London, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing. DLD Media produces conference content including publications, online and video formats and studies, and advises DLD partner companies, start-ups, investors and institutions. It is managed by Stephanie Czerny, one of the co-founders of the DLD conference back in 2005.

Further information
Dorothee Stommel
Hubert Burda Media
Corporate Communications
Arabellastraße 23
81925 Munich, Germany
Tel.: +49-89-9250-2065
E-mail: [email protected]