Theme: Unbox The Future

Before the end of the century we made settlements on the moon, in digital space and roaming settlements that graze the landscape for resources. In future humanity seeks to build the cities around the lunar transportation hubs. Opportunities will shape our urban futures in exciting ways, whilst impending challenges will redefine how we understand the space, time and meaning of life.

How YOU imagine a period that you presently want to be in & be in because of the wonderful theories and concepts envisioned? Don’t you want to take an ownership of future change, the directions and ways of living it, that when future becomes the present the theories and concepts would come true & were worth the wait either become unpleasant past.

TEDxKaunas invites to be better prepared and explore some of the complexities of the future: both the tangible and intangible values – social, economic, cultural and environmental, that biodiversity brings to ecosystems.

KTU "Santaka" valley
Barsausko st. 59
Kaunas, Kauno Apskritis, 51423
Lithuania

Wolfsome

Rock band

Wolfsome is one of the most prominent rock bands in Lithuania. The modern mix of hard rock,blues and garage rock was creating a buzz around the band ever since they formed. The band started in 2013, but for two years Martynas, Gytis, Lukas and Benas stayed in the studio working on their sound. Wolfsome started gigging in May 2015 and during that year was selected as Best New Act by LRT Opus, also won Golden Fish young bands competition held at Karklė festival and toured heavily throughout Lithuania and Latvia. 2016 started with a performance at biggest Lithuanian music event – „M.A.M.A. 2015″. In May their debut album „Origin.412″ was released. Album was presented in a number of shows in Lithuania, Latvia, a show in Sweden and all of the biggest Lithuanian music festivals: Devilstone 2016, Granatos Live 2016, Roko Naktys 2016, Bliuzo naktys 2016, etc. Wolfsome were nominated as “Breakthrough Act” and “Best Rock” at M.A.M.A 2016 Awards.

Algirdas Stonys

Enterpreneur

Algirdas Stonys is a man like no other. At just 35, he is the CEO of the largest mobile software development company in the Baltics and Scandinavia: start-up mentor, investor, philanthropist and all round good guy. While acting as the founding father of a long list of successful business initiatives, Algirdas can be legitimately called one of the guardian angels of tech startup ecosystems regionally and beyond. However, what sets Algirdas apart is his unique outlook in building business communities founded on the principles of sustainability, sharing, trust, and love. Algirdas’ ambitions don’t rest there. His life goal is to create the largest tribe of happy people in the world, putting fulfillment indicators forefront.

Andrijana Filinaitė

Culture heritage specialist

Andrijana was born and raised in Kaunas. She is a member of the Lithuanian State Commission for Cultural Heritage. She is also engaged in politics and ran for parliament in 2016. Although she works at a state institution, she believes that it is not the government that should care the most about our heritage – it’s the people. It is essential to make sure that the heritage of our past generations would not be destroyed in the future. We are especially glad to have Andrijana as a speaker, because she makes every effort to protect Kaunas’ unique architecture and make the host city of our TEDx event more attractive.

Giedrius Jucevičius

Professor, expert and consultant in the fields of strategy, competitiveness and innovation

Prof. Giedrius Jucevičius has a long-standing experience as teacher and researcher at two of Lithuania‘s leading business schools at Vytautas Magnus University and Kaunas University of Technology. He is currently the Head of Management Department at Vytautas Magnus University, as well as an expert on innovation and entrepreneurship at the European Commission. He was also working at HEC of University of Lausanne (Switzerland) as part of the researchers‘ team (led by A.Osterwalder, Y.Pigneur) that was behind the development of the world‘s best known business innovation tools, such as Business Model Canvas or Value Proposition Canvas. Giedrius Jucevičius is also actively involved in practical implementation of research-based insights. He acts as a consultant to the organizations and start-up firms helping them with their strategy process, business model design and business intelligence solutions.

Jerrold Zoloto

Entrepreneur and business leader, Ph.D. in Psychology

For 36 years Jerrold has been the CEO of Anova, a strategic consulting corporation. He has led 6 companies in manufacturing, healthcare and data analytics. Also, he has engaged in lengthy research projects regarding employee impact, effectiveness, and engagement. In addition to his business endeavors, he is President of Litvak World U.S. (litvakworld.com) „Litvak World is my mission in life. I feel it is the most important thing I have ever done,“ claims Jerrold. Litvaks are the Jewish community who have lived in Lithuania from the 13th century to the present. ‘Litvak World’ preserves and cherishes Litvaks’ heritage and provides an opportunity for Litvaks around the world to reconnect with their homeland.

Justinas Taruška

Export of B2B sales and business development

At companies Chemcentras and Nando who try to improve soil quality in innovative ways, Justinas is a head of business development. He is also alumni of The Alchemist Accelerator in Silicon Valley. In addition to that Justinas is Associate Professor in practice at Kaunas Technology University, where he conducts a module about B2B sales for students together with well-known companies in Lithuania. Justinas shared his thought on what he waits the most in the future to happen: „I look forward to a well developed AI, a fast connection with the rest of the world. It’s a dream that all 100% food would be organic.“

Lisette Sutherland

Remote working specialist

Lisette is the director of Collaboration Superpowers, a company that helps people work together from anywhere through online and in person workshops. She also produces a weekly featuring interviews with remote working experts highlighting the challenges and successes of working with virtual teams. She is about to release her long awaited book packed with stories and tips for those who want to successfully bridge distance. Lisette shared her thoughts on what she waits the most in the future to happen: „What I want most to happen in the future, is that we end human suffering. I want everyone to have access to food, clean water, shelter, education, medical care, and a clean environment to live in. Is that too much to ask? 🙂 I want to make distance irrelevant so that we can get the best people, from all over the world, working together to solve global problems.“

Oskars Priede

Public speaking trainer & events' moderator

Oskars is a communications coach, focused on public speaking and presentation at www.RunasKursi.lv. Oskars is interested in successful public speaking factors, as well as the latest trends in the creation of impact during presentation. He carefully analyses orators and helps to improve public speaking skills by training corporate groups and individuals. Having a strong every day connection with technologies, Oskars co-founded EHO Textiles last year. The company focuses on producing equestrian sport equipment as well as apparel for people with movement disorders.

Rasa Švelnikaitė - Pieslikė

Digital transformation geek

Rasa Švelnikaitė – Pieslikė is one of the leading team members at Lithuanian digital advertising agency which focuses on building meaningful relationships between brands and their customers. She specializes in brand’s digital transformation which means that she must search for innovative ideas every day to keep up with customers’ fast-changing preferences and challenges. That’s where advanced big data usage comes in. Although many people are reluctant to share their personal information with companies, Rasa believes that it is vital to understand the perks of it. Rasa shared her thoughts on what inspires her most about the future: „Dalai Lama once said: there are only two days a year when a person cannot do anything, those days are yesterday and tomorrow. So every tomorrow is our future – it’s so near but so untouchable at the same time. So what inspires me about the future? It’s ambiguity. You cannot do anything tomorrow, but you can make huge impact for it.“

Sigutė Kuusienė

Biologist

Sigutė Kuusienė is a passionate biologist with a Ph.D. in Biomedical science. Her interest in biology and nature is leading her as long as she remembers. One of her successful projects was implemented 22 years ago, when Sigutė managed to grow a flowering rose in a test-tube. Only a small number of scientist at that time were able to implement the growth of a plant in a test-tube. Sigutė is working in the Institute of Forests of Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry and has a rich expertise in forestry plant research in vitro. For 16 years already, Sigutė Kuusienė is striving for her dream – to clone the oldest and the biggest oak in Lithuania called ‘Stelmužės ąžuolas’. Sigutė shared her thoughts about what inspires her most about the future: „Knowledge about the possibility of extraterrestrial lifeforms motivates to research cells and DNA in vitro.“