MUNICH, December 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

For the ninth time, Hubert Burda Media brings together pioneers of the digital age in Munich

"Patterns That Connect" is the theme of Burda's international DLD innovation conference in Munich from January 20 to 22, 2013. At DLD, creative minds, digital entrepreneurs as well as leading scientists, data scientist and artists discuss the most pertinent issues of today and tomorrow, and explore new (business) opportunities. Key DLD13 topics are e-commerce, digital security/privacy, education/social issues, and the future of entertainment.

Key agenda items include the future of e-commerce and the hot topic of digital security/privacy. Other sessions will focus on the changes in the educational sector. How and, even more importantly, what will we learn in the future? What are the strategic and logistical challenges in online retail? How are new mobile devices changing the behavior of consumers and media users? Will a customization of content be required in the future? Which technological innovations will change our society in the years to come? DLD13 speakers and attendees will discuss these and other questions from a variety of perspectives.

Speakers at previous DLD events included digital entrepreneur Marc Zuckerberg, Eric Schmidt, Sean Parker, Marissa Mayer; but also Lady Gaga, Nobel Laureates Martti Ahtisaari and Dan Kahneman, Scientists as Craig Venter as well as Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho and architects Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas. At the upcoming event in January 2013, Stephanie Czerny will once again bring together influential creative minds and pioneers from the global digital industry, the media, politics, business, finance, science, society, art and design in Munich.

Confirmed speakers include:

E-Commerce

• Jack Dorsey, Co-Founder & CEO Square
• Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos
• David Marcus, CEO Paypal
• René Schuster, CEO Telefónica Deutschland
• Peter Thiel, Partner at Founders Fund

Security/Privacy

• Eugene Kaspersky, security expert
• Sunil Madhu, Founder & CEO Socure
• Sanghvi Ruchi, CTO Dropbox
• Carson Sweet, Co-Founder & CEO Cloud Passage

Entertainment

• DJ Patil, data scientist
• Scott Belsky, Founder Behance and author of "Making Ideas Happen"
• Ben Horowitz, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz/Investor of "RapGenius"
• Aaron Koblin, Creative Director Data Arts Team Google
• Ynon Kreitz, CEO Maker Studios

Education/Social Issues

• John Maeda, computer scientist
• Zach Sims, Co-Founder Code Academy

DLD13 is themed "Patterns that Connect", and this alludes to a wide range of topics: from binary codes as the basis for processing digital information; patterns in human behavior; algorithms that, as programming instructions, stipulate actions; to data visualization that shows patterns in data flows. Patterns break up complexities, make big data tangible and applicable through the identification of patterns, and are the link to structured design. DLD regards itself as a "pattern recognizer" of structures that will become important in the future. However, it also breaks up patterns to piece them back together in a new context.

'Data brings us closer to the complex patterns of everything we do; it changes our perspective on our life, societies and values. DLD identifies and brings together the most important drivers in these various fields to discuss future opportunities,' says DLD founder and director Steffi Czerny.

This year, the chairmen of the event, publisher Dr. Hubert Burda and investor Dr. Yossi Vardi, will welcome around 800 international attendees to the agenda setting at Munich's HVB-Forum. Top-notch events during the conference include the Chairmen & Speaker Dinner at the Jewish Community Center (January 20), the DLD StarNight (January 21), and the presentation of the "Aenne Burda Awards for Creative Leadership". Past award recipients were Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post), Marissa Mayer (former Google), and Mitchell Baker (Mozilla Firefox). The traditional closing event of the DLD Conference is once again the DLD FOCUS Nightcap at the World Economic Forum in Davos (January 23).

For the second time, DLD Campus together with the Internet Business Cluster (IBC) will host the meeting of a digital pioneer and students: Peter Thiel, one of the initial Facebook investors, is scheduled to give a public lecture at the University of Munich (LMU).

The sessions are aired on live-stream by DLD Media. DLD is a "by invitation only" event. There are still a limited number of tickets available, so if you are interested in attending DLD13, please apply here: http://www.hbm-events.com/dld13/application/. Total ticket costs for the three-day event are € 2,750 plus VAT.

Facts & Figures on DLD 2013:

• The conference takes place at the HBV-Forum in Munich on January 20-22, 2013.
• Key topics: E-Commerce, Security/Privacy, Entertainment, Education/Social Issues
• Discussions, workshops, case studies and lectures: Over 100 international top-notch speakers meet with more than 800 influential attendees from the areas of business, art, media, technology, society, politics and science.
• Chairmen: Investor Dr. Yossi Vardi and publisher Dr. Hubert Burda
• For further information: http://www.dld-conference.com
• For accreditation requests: dldpress@burda.com

Background information:

DLD is Hubert Burda Media's international conference and innovation platform. DLD Media organizes Europe's leading digital conference DLD, the women's conference DLDwomen, and international network events in locations such as Palo Alto, New York, London, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing. DLD Media releases publications, online and video formats and studies on conference content and advises DLD partnerships, start-ups, investors, and institutions. Stephanie Czerny is the Managing Director who co-founded the DLD Conference in 2005.

For further inquires please contact:
Katharina Kirsch
Hubert Burda Media
Corporate Communications
Arabellastraße 23
81925 Munich, Germany
Phone: +49-89-9250-2065
Email: katharina.kirsch@burda.com