Conference sessions will build on the “Fast Data for Fast Business” theme with case studies and best practices from CIOs, CMOs and prominent executives from high-profile brands, companies and government agencies including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, LexisNexis, the Atlanta Falcons, the U.S. Department of the Interior and Equifax. Their presentations will provide real-world examples to help attendees understand how to overcome the challenges of information management, apply velocity to big data, and drive stronger business decisions across their organizations.

Ray Kurzweil, renowned inventor, author, futurist and Director of Engineering at Google, will set a visionary tone for Global Directions 2013 as the headliner with a keynote on the next wave of information management for the enterprise.

The keynote speaker roster for Monday, Sept. 23 also includes:

• Krishneil Kumar, Global Head of Enterprise Search for Google, presenting “Smarter Search, Smarter Enterprise.”
• Bruce Richardson, Chief Enterprise Strategy Officer at Salesforce.com, presenting “The Desktop is Dead.” A brief preview video is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUsZDeovP7A&feature=youtu.be
• Steve Fox, Director of Microsoft’s Windows Azure business unit, presenting “The Future of Office Business Applications.”

Monday’s agenda also includes an executive panel discussion moderated by Michael Hickins, Editor of the CIO Journal and Senior Editor of The Wall Street Journal. The CIO Journal covers business technology news with in-depth reporting and analysis on technologies, trends and strategies that enable business growth. Hickins will moderate a panel discussion on the future of Intelligent Information Management featuring Kurzweil (Google), Isford (IBM), Fox (Microsoft) and Richardson (Salesforce.com).

The conference continues Sept. 24-25 with breakout sessions covering three educational tracks: Customer Innovation, New Technology, and Opinion and Analysis. Each presentation features speakers from leading organizations in their respective industries. The conference, hosted by Kodak, also provides networking opportunities with industry peers from government, healthcare, financial services and other data-driven industries.

“The combination of artificial intelligence, analytics, collaboration, the cloud, and social business—what we call intelligent information management—is essential for companies seeking a competitive edge,” said Dolores Kruchten, President, Document Imaging, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. “Global Directions 2013 will demonstrate the real-world potential of ‘Fast Data for Fast Business’ with a lineup that includes NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and Equifax (preview video available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGlXvrcRYL0). Their stories will show how intelligent information management enables businesses and organizations to unlock the most exciting opportunities in the era of Big Data—from an unmanned vessel making its journey to Mars to the financial tools that empower more people to invest in their dreams.”

The conference agenda is available at www.globaldirections2013.com. Registration is open, including a special early-bird rate, which provides attendees with savings up to $1,600 until August 22. To join the conversation on “Fast Data for Fast Business,” please follow @KodakDI (hash tag #gd13) on Twitter.