KEY figures at the BBC and Microsoft have been signed up to speak at this year's Thinking Digital conference in Gateshead.

Microsoft Applied Sciences director Steven Bathiche and BBC controller of research and development Matthew Postgate are among the new names lined up for the conference, which will return to The Sage from May 24 to 26.

Others lined up for an appearance include HelloEnjoy and PaperVision3D founder Carlos Ulloa, TED senior fellow Rachel Armstrong and senior vice president of Edelman Digital Steve Rubel.

Bathiche is the co-inventor of the Microsoft Surface multi-touch product and a major contributor to the Microsoft Windows operating system, while Postgate’s role is to spearhead the research and innovation activities of the broadcasting corporation. Ulloa heads an interactive studio dealing with high-end, real-time 3D for web and mobile.

Armstrong is the co-director of the Advanced Virtual and Technological Architectural Research looking at ways to develop architecture through applying advanced biological technologies, while Rubel studies trends in media, technology and digital culture for Edelman Digital, a division of the world’s largest public relations firm Edelman.

The conference attracts around 600 people from the North East and beyond, and features attractions beyond the line-up of speakers such as an online social area, a conference dinner, opening and closing parties and the return of Thinking Digital University.