Charles Leadbeater: Keynote & Conference Speakers

A leading authority on innovation and creativity, top management thinker Charles Leadbeater has advised companies, cities and governments around the world on innovative strategy. As a keynote speaker and the author of ‘We-think: The Power of Mass Creativity’, Charles uses his expertise and aptitude for spotting ideas ahead of time to expound on topics such as ‘cloud culture’, ‘remixing the city’ and ‘a better kind of banking’.

Charles Leadbeater is a keynote speaker  and adviser to leading European companies. He is an innovative thinker and independent writer.

Known as Tony Blair's favourite corporate thinker, he has advised companies, cities, and governments around the world on innovation strategy and has recorded his experiences in his book,  We-think: the power of mass creativity, which charts the rise of mass, participative approaches to innovation from science and open source software, to computer games and political campaigning.

Charles’ next book Living on Thin Air: The New Economy was published was published in 1999 and translated into four languages. Charles has written regularly for the Industry Standard magazine as well as contributing to the New Statesman, the Financial Times, and The Guardian.

After a decade at the Financial Times, Charles was appointed as Features Editor, and eventually he moved on to Assistant Editor in charge of Features at The Independent where he worked with Helen Fielding to create the iconic Bridget Jones's Diary.

Accenture ranked him one of the top management thinkers in the world in 2005, and his Pro-Am Revolution report was profiled by the New York Times for generating one of the best ideas of the year, the rise of the activist amateur.

Amongst his many other varied responsibilities, Charles advised the EC on competitiveness and the New Economy, and was actively involved in the initial plan for the Department of Culture's project Culture Online, to promote digital access to publicly funded museums, galleries and arts.

He has also advised the Downing St Policy Unit and the British government's Department of Trade and Industry on the Internet and the knowledge driven economy.

He has published numerous White Papers, including Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy; a Science White Paper, and he helped draft the Communications White Paper and the Competitiveness White Paper in 2001.