The organisers of the second TEDxDubai conference have signed Cadillac as the main sponsor and plan to stream the entire event live over the internet.
TEDxDubai is an independently organised, licensed version of the US-based Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference. Luminaries including Bill Gates, Al Gore and Gordon Brown have spoken at the TED event.
Speakers for the Dubai event, held on December 4, have not yet been announced. Last year's speakers at what was the first TEDxDubai included Dr Naif al Mutawa, the creator of The 99, the first-ever group of Islamic superheroes, and the technology expert Joichi Ito. "Cadillac is the main sponsor but we are in discussions with many others," said Giorgio Ungania, the co-curator of TEDxDubai.
The event will be streamed live over the internet. These broadcasts will be available everywhere except the UAE, to create a bigger buzz about the event in the Emirates, said Mr Ungania.
"This year, we're going to broadcast the entire [event] live over the internet, everywhere in the world apart from in the UAE," he said. "We want to make the event as unique as we can. We're going to make it special for the 1,000 people who are invited to the event."
Other sponsors include Zayed University,8am Worldwide, which will provide the technology to stream video of the event online, the production agency METAphrenie and Xische, which developed a website for TEDxDubai.
Tickets for the US version of the event cost US$6,000 (Dh22,036) and have a strict selection procedure. While the Dubai event is free, applicants for the 1,000 tickets are screened by the organisers of TEDxDubai.
Last year, this selection process led to some accusations of elitism. But James Piecowye, the joint curator of last year's event and who is also involved this year, said the selection procedure was necessary to create the right audience.