Matt learned on his own example that a cooperative approach can give more efficient results. Therefore co-creation has become the core of his work – he spent over a decade as a Group Director with Nowhere Group where they together, catapulted intentional co-creative practices to new levels. Moreover, during his career he was involved in facilitiating collaborations between businesses, governments, academics and social enterprises to address some of the greatest challenges facing the world today; including energy, finance, food, wellbeing, urbanisation and resilience.
As we evolve from the Information Age in to the Biological & Wellbeing Age, the quality of our interconnection could make or break us. To reconnect these dots, the most efficient move we can make is to decrease the resistance that lies within and between us. Based on his experiences, Matt will share the 5 things that anyone who wants to get something done should pay particular attention to.

Matt Clarke is Founder and President of Switched On Global and a Partner at Leaders’ Quest, and he specialises in bringing together disparate parties and enabling collaboration in complex business situations.Over his career, he has worked with the boards of some of the world’s largest companies. He is also a co-founding trustee of The Friends of Baale Mane, a social enterprise that provides a loving home near Bangalore, India to nurture and resource girls who do not have parents who can care for them. Matt lives in central London with his wife and their two sons, enjoying their passion for music, healthy living and supporting their local community.

In the Soviet Union, both the music industry and the permissible repertoire were completely controlled by the state. But in the post war period, music lovers risked their freedom and employed various extraordinary techniques to record and share the songs they loved.  They had no access to conventional recording processes but with amazing ingenuity, repurposed and recycled various technologies to make their illegal records. Many older people in Russia remember these strange flexible records, which they listened to in their youth. They contained Western Jazz and rock’n’roll – which were forbidden at the time – along with some Russian music. They were called ‘bones’ or ‘ribs’.

On 13 June in ICE Kraków Congress Centre, Stephen Coates will present this story of forbidden culture, technology and human endeavour with incredible images of the records that were made as part of his X-Ray Audio project. His talk will feature testimonies from surviving Russians of the period.

STEPHEN COATES is a composer and music producer. He came across the subject of the X-Ray recordings when travelling to Russia to perform as The Real Tuesday Weld. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, he is particularly interested in the interaction between music and culture.

It is not only models or girls concerned with their appearance who are affected by bulimia. It’s an addiction from which women of all ages can suffer. It always starts the same, with an innocent craving for a snack. And so they follow – a second snack, third one, something more substantial, and more, and another one, and so on…It doesn’t matter anymore as it always ends the same. Those suffering from bulimia are masters of camouflage. Often no one knows about their illness, even family, friends or partners. No one. Moreover, in our country it is really difficult to get professional help. It takes months to get to a doctor, specialists are scarce and existing therapies are for teenagers, as if the problem ended at that age.

Our guest speaks openly about this topic, which still appears to be uncomfortable. She sets an example and gives hope to those suffering from bulimia, showing them that the illness can be defeated:
“I was fooled by this whole fake concept supported by the media, about what your body is supposed to be like and as a result, I almost wrecked it through starving and doing it harm. (…) You’re supposed to be yourself, because you’re body is not something random. It’s a gift and a miracle. (…) You should be in your body 100% and love it, like it deserves.

Anna Gruszczyńska - “Wilczo Głodna” as she is known in the on line world, author of a book with the same title. Designer by profession and by passion, psychology, art and sports enthusiast. Does CrossFit, lifts weights, runs marathons. She defines herself as a free spirit – she hitchhiked around quite a bit of the world, performed in a street theatre and sang in a group that reconstructed old Slavic chants.
Her current home is Belgium, but beforehand she lived in many countries, such as Spain, the USA, Greece or Italy. She speaks four languages and says that “There are no limits for man, except those in his mind”.

During this year’s TEDxKraków conference Joanna McCoy, translator and audit commission member of the association Beautiful Angels, will tell us more about projects run by this organisation.

As adults who engage in social initiatives, we have plenty of possibilities to make kids’ lives better. We can fill their world with colours – literally. And accomplishing this gives you wings. The Beautiful Angels’ Association invites both individuals and companies to work together on adding colour to the surroundings of children in difficult life situations. Thanks to the Angels’, these kids get a possibility to work at their own desks, sleep in their own beds or design their own room. Angels collaborate with adults who received support in their own past as well, which helped them become the people they are now – doctors, IT specialists, architects, athletes or fulfilling their dreams in various other fields. Also, more and more people from juvenile detention centres and corrective facilities get involved in the “Sunny rooms” projects. Those who remember where they grew up and think that children deserve a good life, a space to study and play, can support the association through donations, expertise or experience. Beautiful Angels connect groups which at first don’t seem to have anything in common; anything but the will to help. This is their take on “reconnecting the dots”.
The association has been active in Lesser Poland and Silesia for two years; recently they also started operating in the Mazovia Province. Since then it has finalised over 30 renovations – a change of interior works on kids like therapy, giving hope for a brighter future.

Joanna McCoy - sworn translator, specialises in legal texts. She is interested in law and continuously develops her knowledge in this topic – presently she is doing postgraduate studies in forensic science at the Jagiellonian University. She is passionate about literature, writing and also, she selflessly loves other people, which is why she helps and works with the Angels.

As it recognises user’s emotions by tracking mouse movement or typing, Harimata was initially intended as a tool to improve advertisement targeting. However, the project of a marketing tool gave way to a much bigger idea. The algorythm was used in a completely different way – it was supposed to help diagnose children with autism early as well as measure their progress during therapy. Thus, it created a bridge between behavioural psychology and advanced technology.

Harimata technology presently allows to detect autism already in two-year-olds, both in home environment and in research centres, through simple games. Complex medical tests, which traditionally consist of meetings with psychologists, pediatricians and speech therapists, have been replaced by a tablet and a 15-minute-long game, involving tasks such as drawing a picture, which measures 140 different parameters and as a result, identifies autism symptoms.

This initiative was first introduced during Startup Weekend in 2013 in Kraków. Since then it has been evolving, inspiring and obtaining well-deserved recognition in Poland and abroad.

Last year in March, Harimata won the Digital Health Award, and in April it won the Global Impact Competition, which awards best technological projects which aim to solve problems of our civilisation. Furthermore, it has received an award from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for innovative achievements, recognised internationally.

Want to know more about Harimata and develop a passion for thinking outside the box? Register for TEDxKraków today!

Paweł Jarmołkowicz – co-founder and CEO of Harimata, software engineer with over 10 years of experience in R&D. Graduate of School of Banking and Management, University of Science and Technology in Kraków, as well as the Graduate Studies Program 2014, organised by Singularity University at NASA AMES Research Park.