All the elements were there: an excitable audience, enthusiastic presenter and talented orators but this was no music competition, it was “A day in the deep future” by TEDx Brussels.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedxbrussels/6384542279/

This year, TEDx Brussels’ speakers teleported the audience into the future and gave TEDsters a glimpse of what’s to come. We saw robots that could pass off for your twin, cars that could drive themselves, augmented human eyes and printable DNA code. This may sound like science-fiction however, many of the technologies seen on stage are tangible. As you can imagine, the sedentary humanoid robot suddenly coming to life caused quiet a stir.

In addition to captivating science and technology presentations, TEDx Brussels also included fascinating talks about the future of politics and economics. One such talk was by Julie Meyer, founder and CEO of Ariadne Capital, who talked about the entrepreneurs of 2061, the rise of individual capitalism and gave her insights on how to become a successful entrepreneur.

Leila Janah, founder of Samasource, also gave a heartening talk about the benefits of micro-work and the skills as well as the dignity it brings to people living in developing countries.

Now for something a little different, here is a talk by John Bohannon that really got TEDsters talking, it is called “Dance you PhD”, enjoy.

In all, TEDx Brussels once more delivered a successful conference filled with riveting talks. You too can watch all these great talks on TEDx Brussels.

The conclusion of TEDx Brussels was a tribute to where we were and featured a “Made in Belgium” theme with really great talks by Sebastien de Halleux, Luc Steels and Peter Hinssen. These entrepreneurs along with their accomplishments clearly demonstrated that Belgium is on the map when it comes to innovation.

The most illustrious example was Sebastien de Halleux, co-founder of the internet game company PlayFish. You may have seen the company’s online games on Facebook connecting players with friends and capitalising on their desire to succeed in the game. In 2009, the company made the news as the founders sold PlayFish to Electronic Arts (EA) for USD$ 400 million. In addition to last year’s talk by Dries Buytaert, creator and project lead for Drupal, it is safe to say Belgium’s got talent.

Speaking of Belgian entrepreneurs, Xavier Damman is co-founder of Storify which is where our ZN social media team has been reporting for TEDxBrussels. Have a look at what the twitter-sphere had to say about these speakers.

As we have done from the birth of TEDxBrussels, the ZN team will continue to actively engage with TEDxBrussels, TEDxKids and soon TEDxEU… watch this space to find out more!