Organisers: Dr Tuukka Toivonen (Creative Friction), Daniel Ospina (Conductal) & RISE London

This event brings together some of the most creative thinkers and industry rebels from the worlds of coworking, tech and research to explore the future of the ultimate workspace.

The coworking industry, while innovative in some respects, is struggling to fuse space, technology and organisational practice in ways that produce genuinely creative, productive communities.

Addressing this challenge head on, the speakers featuring in this session will provide an insiders’ view on London’s most cutting-edge workspaces as well as the immersive technologies and deeper strategies that will shape tomorrow’s creative workplace.

Chaired by the Creative Community Strategist Dr Tuukka Toivonen (Creative Friction) and the Organisational Designer Daniel Ospina (Conductal), “Building the Ultimate Creative Workspace” will begin with short talks by industry leaders, followed by a dynamic panel discussion with audience Q&As.

Provisional timetable (subject to revision):

14:00 Setting the agenda: Why Our Workspaces Aren’t That Creative (Yet) – and How to Move Beyond the Status Quo (Dr Tuukka Toivonen)

14:10 Industry leaders’ talks: The Future of Creative Coworking and Immersive Technology

14:40 Panel discussion and Q&A (facilitated by Daniel Ospina)

15:30 Networking with industry leaders & shapers from around the world

16:00 Event concludes

SPEAKERS (to be updated):

Amelia Kallman is a leading London futurist, speaker and author. As an innovation and technology communicator, Amelia regularly writes, consults, and speaks on the impact of new technologies on the future of business and our lives. She is an expert on the emerging risks of The New Realities (VR-AR-MR) having recently authored a cutting-edge report for Lloyd’s of London. She also specialises in the future of retail, AI and IoT, and runs the Inition Insight Studio in the heart of East London. She's lectured at Cambridge University, written a multi-award winning book, and directed the first burlesque show in 360° film. Her writing is often featured in WIRED UK, IBC365, and The Big Reveal, her popular monthly innovation newsletter. TWITTER: @ameliakallman

Neil Usher. With over 25 years in the industry as a property, workplace and change leader, Neil has delivered innovative environments for organisations in a variety of sectors, all over the world including Warner Bros., Honeywell, Rio Tinto and Sky. He hasn’t just talked about it – he has been there and done it. He is now Chief Workplace Officer for GoSpace, the first AI application for the workplace. Together with this practical experience, his influential blog (www.workessence.com) and regular conference talks have made him a leading thinker in the profession. His first book The Elemental Workplace was published in March 2018.

Hannah Gibbs. Hannah heads up Membership and Community at The Conduit, a recently launched community in London that brings together individuals who have both the determination and the capability to tackle some of the world’s biggest issues. Hannah was inspired to join the team, on this ambitious project, after more than a decade exploring a range of approaches to tackling social issues from Global Health, to Child Protection to Peacebuilding across the UK, Africa and Latin America. Hannah has extensive experience in design, implementation and evaluation of systems change projects for government, corporate and foundation donors, and now facilitates collaboration between The Conduit’s community of business leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and activists across all sectors, industries and demographics.

Benjamin Carew of WeCoffee. Innovator & Problem Solver. Ben is the Co-Founder of WeCoffee, a new and rapidly growing London-based service that provides free workspace. Before WeCoffee Ben was directly involved in the design of some of the most exciting cars and disruptive transport services, ranging from Nissan's electric vehicles to ride-hailing and autonomous vehicle services.

CHAIRS

Tuukka Toivonen (PhD Oxon.) is a Creative Community Strategist as well as an expert on entrepreneurship, coworking and social innovation at University College London. His firm Creative Friction helps organisations build flourishing creative communities - through training, strategy consulting & metrics - at a time when many innovative spaces struggle to adequately connect, support and creatively nourish their ambitious members, failing to meet their business potential.

Daniel Ospina is an Organization Designer, Facilitator, and Visiting Lecturer at Said Business School (Oxford), having worked with clients and partners such as The European Space Station, New North Zealander Hospital (Denmark), and the UN. Previously, Daniel designed innovation processes for The Fat Duck Group, co-founded a community for cross-disciplinary collaboration, ran a startup called Michel/Fabian and, in a previous life, was a chef.