Younghee Jung, Senior Design Manager at Nokia, recently moved to London from Tokyo. Learn more about Younghee's groundbreaking work by viewing her LIFT08 video.

Many will remember her presentation in the User Experience Track where she shared research performed in shanty towns around the world. The purpose was to capture input from users with a view to analyzing trends for future development.

Younghee's well-known colleague and Principal Researcher at Nokia, Jan Chipchase, will be attending LIFT08 in Korea. We'll be back with more about Jan's contribution soon.

Jon Cabiria has been travelling extensively, discussing his recent research on virtual world permeability and transference, which he unveiled and summarized at LIFT08 this past February. After LIFT08, his speaking engagements continued through Europe and the U.S. Later this month, he presents a seminar at the U.S. Department of Defense National Defense University, entitled: Virtual worlds: Immersive learning strategies for overseas engagements, focussing on diplomacy uses, not war. He will also be speaking at the prestigious International Congress on Psychology in Berlin, as well as at the 4th European Conference on Positive Psychology in Rijeka, Croatia, both this coming July.

Jon is currently engaged in research that looks at how we can utilize online social networks, along with positive psychology assessments and appreciative inquiry processes, to aid organisations and individuals in achieving goals, especially those related to social issues. He is also looking at online social networks as a natural extension of human evolution, which he expects to discuss during his 2009 speaking tour.

Using communications technologies and online social networks, Jon continues his consulting and coaching practice from wherever he is in the world, as well as facilitates his popular Human Growth and Development course. Jon continues to receive amazing feedback from his LIFT08 appearance and looks forward to LIFT09.

Remember Scott Smith? Scott is a changeist and a regular at LIFT.

This year Scott spoke at LIFT in the Foresight track, which was all about how organisations identify and attempt to benefit from current and future trends. In his role as a changeist Scott helps organisations to understand and to plan for new consumer behaviours as well as the technologies that are likely to have an impact on their lives.

What's Scott up to these days?

Scott will be speaking next in Toronto at the Interactive Content Exchange Conference (ICE08) which will take place from 26-28 March.

And, we'll be looking forward to his book on emotional connectivity which deals with the next frontier in digital communication. Keep your ears to the ground for this one. It is scheduled to be published in 2009.