Each day of the three-day event starts with a significant keynote address and concludes with a stimulating collective wrap up session. Between, the topics will run in three or four parallel streams, presented as lectures, quick fire sessions, specialised micro sessions and panel discussions.
David Staples, chair of the Editorial Board said, "Fine-tuning, developing and enriching the format of the three previous Conferences, has assisted with the Editorial Board's goal to create a lively animated challenging Conference Programme, with diverse views and opinions about theatres and their technology.
"As the world changes the entertainment industry is entering a new era and facing major challenges. The first ITEAC conference in 2002 was 12 years ago. At that time no one was on Facebook, no one had Tweeted, LEDs were unknown in theatres and surtitles were just emerging in opera. Over that same twelve years China and the Middle East have developed significant new performing arts centres."
He continued, "ITEAC 2014 provides an essential worldwide forum for sharing ideas and discussing best practice. It will look at the past and present in order to speculate and imagine the future."
The programme is based around the themes of The People, The Places, and The Technologies.
These key issues are reflected in the varied and packed programme, designed so that delegates with a particular interest can pursue their specific field throughout each of the three days, while others can take part in sessions about a variety of disciplines.
As previously announced, 'America's most wired composer' Tod Machover - one of the brightest thinkers about performance today - will open ITEAC 2014, followed by a provocation by Sir John Tusa, previously head of the BBC World Service and The Barbican, Europe's largest multi-arts centre.
Norwegian Kjetil Thorsen, principal and co-founder of architectural practice Sn°hetta joins them. Architect of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Oslo Opera House, the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin and the King Abdul Aziz Centre for World Culture in Saudi Arabia, Thorsen will deliver the keynote address on Monday morning.
In The People sessions, participants include London theatre producer and co-owner of Nimax Theatres Group Nica Burns, and topics include Creative Financing, looking at how to get 'other people' to pay for new theatres, the future needs of building management and operating systems, an exploration of how big data could be used in the performing arts, and, the wider definition of accessibility.
The Places covers the role of Arts Buildings in Urban Renewal with speakers Lyn Goleby and Julia Fawcett, Place Making with architects Bostjan Vuga (Slovenia) and Steve Tompkins (UK) discusses the movement that re-imagines theatres and public spaces at the heart of towns and cities, whilst what to do with an interesting empty building is tackled by Indian director Abanti Chakraborty, in the Reuse of Existing Buildings.
In the previously announced The Opera House of the Future session, moderator Nicholas Payne, director of Opera Europa, will be joined by John Berry, artistic director of English National Opera, Michael Haefliger from Lucerne's Salle Modulable and Tod Machover. Participants in Creating New Cultural Districts include Peter Van Wyk from Dubai and Ricky Sandhu from Foster and Partners, talking about the West Kowloon Cultural District.
Always popular with delegates wanting to be both informed and educated, The Technologies thread will deal with the latest thinking in Projection and Imaging: The Big Picture, the factors to
