Nato chief, Indian rocker and Salmond share stage for ‘radical’ conference

Published on 27/06/2012 00:00

SCIENTISTS from around the world – plus an eclectic mix of guests including the leader of Nato, the sculptor, Antony Gormley, and the comedian, Ruby Wax – are holding a “brain-storming” conference in Edinburgh this week.

The TedGlobal 2012 Radical Openness conference, which aims to promote “ideas worth spreading”, will be addressed this morning by First Minister Alex Salmond, who is scheduled to give a talk on “globality”.

Yesterday, James Stavridis, Nato’s supreme commander, said that while the military played a vital role there was also a need to make long lasting social changes and to promoting collaboration between countries and the private and public sectors to promote security.

“We will not determine security solely from the barrel of a gun,” Admiral Stavridis said.

Instead, he advocated the concept of “open source security” which supported a range of initiatives such as literacy and sports projects in some of the world’s troublespots.

The global series of confer-ences, known as Ted (Technology Entertainment and Design), is run by the non-profit organisation, the Sapling Foundation.

Each speaker is given 18 minutes to present their opinion in the most entertaining way to the audience.

Previous participants have included Gordon Brown, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.

Yesterday morning’s discussion sessions were enlivened by a performance from Indian rock band Raghu Dixit, who earlier this month performed for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.