Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, School for Start-ups founder Doug Richards and Live Aid creator Bob Geldof will be in Dublin this week for the One Young World summit.
The event, which is the principal global forum for young leaders aged 18 to 30, is expected to attract more than 1,400 delegates from 190 countries, giving a €2 million boost to the Dublin economy.
Other speakers include former Irish president Mary Robinson, British sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur, Unilever chief executive Paul Polman and Meghan Markle, lead actress in US legal drama Suits.
The delegates will debate formalising solutions for a number of global issues including sustainable development, global business, education, leadership, peace and conflict.
Social entrepreneur Iseult Ward is a previous delegate of One Young World, where she had the opportunity to speak to Kofi Annan and tell him of her plans to eradicate food waste.
“Since attending the summit, I have set up FoodCloud which has distributed over 72 tonnes of surplus food, the equivalent of 154,000 meals, to a network of 140 charities across Ireland,” she said.
A key theme for this year’s event will be Peace and Conflict Resolution – using Ireland’s legacy and relatively recent reconciliation as an example to guide discussion.
The four-day event kicks off in the Convention Centre in Dublin this Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the city, the Trinity Digital Assembly takes place on Wednesday. The event is aimed at people considering a career in digital, consulting or technology and a number of start-ups including CurrencyFair, Popdeem, Newswhip and Swrve will be exhibiting.
Speakers will include Datahug head of engineering David Burke, Accenture Ireland head of digital Vicky Godolphin and Sean Blanchfield, co-founder of PageFair and Demonware.
