2024 Speakers

Tara Mills

Tara Mills is a BBC Northern Ireland presenter who fronts the 6.30 evening television news and co-presents Radio Ulster's Drivetime programme. Before presenting, Tara was a reporter for almost 20 years. She covered stories from the Good Friday Agreement, the setting up of Stormont to the devolution of policing and justice powers. She also worked for BBC Spotlight and co-hosts the BBC's local election coverage.

Dr Nicola Millard

Principal Innovation Partner, BT
Once described as “human caffeine”on Twitter, Dr Nicola Millard injects a people-centred espresso shot to innovation and future strategy. Half social scientist, half technologist, all academic, she uses techniques from disciplines such as design thinking, psychology, anthropology, computing, and business consulting to generate data, provocations, and stories to engage and create conversations from the board room to the front line. No frothy coffee; just solid research. In her long and varied career at BT, Nicola has done many jobs, including futurology, research, usability, customer service, marketing, and business consulting.

Nicola got her PhD from Lancaster University in 2005 and has authored over 50 publications, including 1 book and numerous book chapters. She is an award-winning presenter, with 2 TEDx talks and hundreds of conference panel, chair, and keynote sessions under her belt. She occasionally pops up on radio and TV around the world, including appearances on ‘Woman’s Hour’, ‘Tech Tent’, ‘The Media Show’, ‘The Genius of Invention’ and ‘Back in Time for the Weekend’ for the BBC.

Stephen Dallas

Director, Bytes Project
For over 25 years, Stephen has provided services that give opportunities to young people. In 2021, Stephen decided to accept the CEO role with Bytes, a regional voluntary youth work organisation that was established in the 1990s with a vision of providing young people the opportunity to improve their digital skills. Since accepting the role, Stephen has sought insights into how Bytes can renew this role for the 2020s.

For three years, he has researched, listened to colleagues, and tested new ideas, with limited funding, in digital technology. He describes himself as an expert on the practical applications of digital technologies, not on the technology! Stephen is passionate about empowering youth and believes in the transformative power of education and technology. He continues to advocate for innovative approaches to youth development.

Amanda Ferguson

Journalist, Editor & Founder, Women in Media Belfast
Amanda Ferguson from North Belfast is a Belfast-based Ireland editor, and NUJ member. For nearly 15 years she has been working as a freelance journalist, event host, writer, and broadcaster for local, national, and international media outlets, including Reuters news agency, The Washington Post, BBC, RTÉ, LBC, Sky, and others. She co-founded Women in Media Belfast in 2021. It was recently registered as a community interest company and was set up to amplify women’s voices and showcase expertise in and on the media. Find Amanda on social media @AmandaFBelfast, or at amanda.ie 

Dr Orna Young

Managing Director, FactCheckNI
Orna is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of FactCheckNI. She is responsible for developing and executing the organisation’s overall strategy, including managing relationships with grant funders and stakeholders. She directs FactCheckNI’s fact checking and critical thinking training programmes and collaborates with secondary and tertiary educational institutions and community-based organisations.

Orna holds a PhD in Politics from Queen’s University Belfast. She has previously worked in social and community-based research and evaluation and delivered selected lecturing at local universities. She is a board member of the Northern Ireland Open Government Network and a member of the Ofcom Evaluation Working Group. She has also provided social and political commentary for BBCNI and UTV.