Games, Academia Summit Hits Edinburgh Fringe Fest

The University of Edinburgh will host a one-day conference for video games and academia on August 15 called the Digital Interactive Symposium: Edinburgh. The Symposium, also known as DIS:E, will be held in the midst of the popular Edinburgh Fringe Festival and back-to-back with Edinburgh Interactive, a game industry event. The Symposium will bring together game industry representatives and academics of multimedia and cultural studies to discuss computer games and innovation, virtual worlds, and the roles of the game industry and education. Jessica Mulligan (pictured), a 20-year game industry professional and frequent speaker at industry events, will deliver the keynote address titled, “Industry & Academia Talking: What's the Point?” Other speakers include Dr. Jason Rutter, research fellow at the ESRC University of Manchester; Dr. Barry Atkins program leader in game design at Newport School of Art, Media and Design; William Garrood, strategy manager at Ofcom; and Chris Francis of government programs at IBM. Ren Reynolds, one of the event organizers, said in a press release, “DIS:E offers a fantastic opportunity for the games industry and academics to talk to each other … Games are also an important industry for the U.K. and will increasingly challenge our understanding of U.K. and EU regulation.” Registration for the symposium is £50, but free for registered full-time students. A discounted registration fee of £40 applies to those who register for both the symposium and Edinburgh Interactive.