Indian media firm MediaGuru ties up with Guardian to hold summit

LONDON: An Indian media consulting firm tied up with the Guardian, London, to bring together the world's brightest and most influential figures to the country for the first time to debate how technology is driving positive social change on a global scale.

MediaGuru entered into a partnership with the Guardian to hold one of its 2012 Activate Summits.

Announcing the expansion, Alan Rusbridger said: "Technology is bringing the world closer together and at the Guardian we're committed to encouraging debate between diverse, global audiences in line with our open and digital-first strategies."

"We are thrilled to be bringing the Guardian Activate summit to new countries where technology is having a real impact."

Sanjay Salil, Managing Director, MediaGuru, said: "MediaGuru is proud to be bringing the Guardian Activate platform to India, where a gathering of technology, media, and social innovation leaders can help shape India's technology and new media agenda, and facilitate a quantum leap in the ever-increasing business collaboration between India and the West."

The first Activate event took place in London in 2009 and the event expanded into the US market last year with the first Activate New York taking place in April 2011, the company said in a statement.

Previous speakers have included Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, Craig'sList founder Craig Newmark and New York University professor Clay Shirky.

The 2012 Guardian Activate summit in India is currently planned to take place in October in Delhi.