A TECHNOLOGY expert from East Lancashire will gaze into the future to present his vision of life in the new millennium.

Graham Whitehead, advanced concepts manager for British Telecom, will be among the key speakers at a major conference dubbed the 'forum of the future.'

The Developing a Vision for East Lancashire in 2020, which has been organised by the East Lancashire Partnership, will take place at Ewood Park, Blackburn, next Tuesday.

It will aim to see how the area can develop in the next 20 years by bringing together business, schools, colleges, local authorities and community associations.

Mr Whitehead was brought up in Blackburn - living in Lytham Road and later Revidge Road - and attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School. He joined the BT laboratory at Ipswich after graduating and worked in a variety of areas, ranging from optical fibres to special optical receivers used on submarine systems.

His work on the latter led to him winning the Queen's Award for Technology in 1990.

Other speakers at the conference will include:

Professor Peter Lloyd: A professor of urban geography and former dean of the faculty of social and environmental studies at Liverpool University.

Marianne Neville Rolfe: Regional director of the Government office for the North West, which brings together the activities in the region of the departments of education and employment, environment, transport and the regions.

John Abbott: Director of Education 2000, a charitable trust funded largely by industry and private sponsors to develop ever more appropriate techniques and environments which would enable young people to have confidence in their ability to become lifelong earners.

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