New Lions Innovation Festival format announced

"The Lions Innovation programme is a representation of our belief that great ideas can come from anywhere, and to bring it together we looked further afield for sources of inspiration than ever before," said Cannes Lions Chairman, Terry Savage, confirming that a groundbreaking keynote from NASA would be part of the line-up.

Dr Francesca DeMeo, Planetary Scientist and Hubble Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Jason Kessler, NASA's Asteroid Grand Challenge Program Executive, will join Tyler DeAngelo, Executive Creative Director, mcgarrybowen on stage for the session, which says Savage, will epitomise the spirit of the festival.

"'Innovation' means venturing away from familiar ground into uncharted territory to create something new and valuable and with its vision to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown in ways that ultimately benefit humankind, there could be no greater embodiment innovation than NASA."

Catalysts for creativity in the spotlight

Much of the Lions Innovation programme will also be dedicated to exploring the role of data and technology as the impetus for ideas.

In 'Changing the Formula', Konrad Feldman, CEO of Quantcast and Justin Pearse, MD of The Drum Works will assist former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard to demonstrate that data is no longer just an output but increasingly the input into the ideas that drive us.

'The CTO Exposed: What it Takes to Create Remarkable Products', brings together fellow Chief Technology Officers and innovation evangelists, AKQA's Ben Jones and Nike's Chris Satchel to share the reasons why they see technology as a kind of magic that will continue to transform brands.

Chuck Porter, CP+B's Chairman will join his Chief Digital Officer, Ivan Perez-Armandariz, and Karen Kaiser, Domino's VP of Advertising, to discuss how collaboration created superior products, revolutionized online ordering and delivery systems, and unearthed unique ways to resonate with consumers and culture in Philosophies on 'Creativity, Innovation and Why Domino's Works'.

Gender on the agenda

With only 17% of the tech workforce made up by women, the innovation gender gap will also be highlighted by the festival.

Sarah Wood, Cofounder & COO of Unruly, Deirdre McGlashan, Global Chief Digital Officer of Mediacom and Kathryn Parsons, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Decoded will examine how the talent crunch will impact the digital economy in their session 'How the Gender Gap Could Derail the Global Creative Tech Sector', suggesting ways companies can better support women in the workplace.

New stages set for enlightenment

The Lions Innovation programme will unfold in-the-round, across three dedicated stages. Seminar-style keynotes by international thought-leaders including those mentioned above will be delivered on the Inspiration Stage. Sessions on the Discovery Stage will break down tech trends and feature live displays. While the Experience Stage will feature interactive educational sessions designed kick-start or accelerate in-house innovation within brands and agencies.

Brands invest in innovation

Putting their weight behind Lions Innovation will be 11 Founding Partners representing the breadth of the industry:
• AudienceScience
• Experian
• Google
• Marketo
• MEC
• MediaMath
• Ohal
• Oracle - Datalogix
• Rubicon Project
• Teradata
• The TradeDesk

Lions Innovation takes place 25-26 June. Passes to the festival can be booked standalone but for the launch year only, holders of a Classic 7-day Cannes Lions pass will also be able to attend Lions Innovation. Entries to the Innovation Lions and Creative Data Lions are now open and submissions will be accepted until 27 March 2015. Winners from both categories will be revealed at the Lions Innovation awards ceremony on Friday, 26 June. For more information, go to http://www.canneslions.com/innovation_lions/.