The 2025 conference will convene a global community to explore the challenges and opportunities within our sector.
Featuring:
Keynotes
Expect exciting keynote addresses from key figures both in and out of sector. Conference 2025 will welcome thought leaders from the tech, creative and learning and library spaces to present ideas which provoke, challenge and inspire.
Gene Tan
2025 Keynote | Michael Rosen
‘Top of mind’ issues
Announcing our headline programme theme for 2025:
North Star: Asserting our ethical principles and leading through change
Against a backdrop of sluggish growth, fast-paced tech innovation, live AI experiments, and viral mis/dis-information, our sector’s ethical framework is more relevant than ever: To preserve knowledge in secure and useful ways, now and in the future. To protect people from misleading and harmful content by upskilling them and giving them access to a wide range of trustworthy information. And to promote responsible, sustainable, and ethical practices.
CILIP Conference 2025 will explore our ‘North Star’ ethical principles in the context of how we navigate this time of great challenge and opportunity, and examine how we – as trusted information professionals – can exert our influence; demonstrate our impact; and position our sector’s expertise to secure our seat at the top table – whether that be at an organisational, local, national or international level.
Preserve, protect, promote
As the UK government continues to enable mass AI experiments on society … as Big Tech continues to commodify individuals’ data … as we examine the pros and cons of emerging tech … our sector has a uniquely valuable role to play in supporting staff and service user’s information and media literacy, advocating for information rights, and considering the ethical implications of policy decisions.
Our programme will explore:
- Digital inclusion
- AI literacy and critical thinking about new tools
- If we really mean ‘yes’? Big Tech, data literacy and consent
- The latest developments in AI, copyright, and licensing, including how we balance creators’, innovators, and tax-payers’ rights
- AI governance
Influencing up, down and sideways
We are essential trusted ethical partners to innovation. Whether we are influencing changes at a policy level, securing funding for the future of our services or co-authoring ethical AI and data strategies, how we talk about our values and our impact matters.
CILIP Conference 2025 will discuss how we can:
- Support the continued development and upskilling of a dynamic, AI-literate workforce
- Forge allies across and beyond the sector as trusted information professionals
- Persuasively demonstrate the skills, expertise and relevance of the library, information and knowledge community
- Leverage stories and evidence about our successes
- Influence up, down and sideways
- Brand and market our services to increase user engagement
- Build relationships and narratives which chime with mission-driven government
- And respond positively and proactively to challenges when they arise
As well as our headline theme around ethics and influencing, the programme will explore key ‘top of mind’ challenges across our leadership strands of:
- Sustainability
- Personal, professional and workforce development
- Information management
- Knowledge management
- And more!
Developing Talent Streams
The sector’s leadership gap is a pressing challenge. The programme will feature sessions specifically designed to upskill and empower emerging and aspiring leaders to take the next step into managerial positions.
Our human-ness and ‘softer’ skills
One of our most popular sessions in recent programmes explored how we relate to – and overcome – imposter syndrome. Our programme will feature strands of personal development (because personal development is professional development) and how we can better self-lead.
Workshops
Hear from expert panels and have your chance to put forward questions in our chaired Q&A’s. Our workshop programme aspires to provide a collaborative environment where delegates can explore, critique and disseminate key ideas and best practise.
Knowledge Management and Information Management
For Knowledge Management and Information Management practitioners (or people considering making a career change) we will once again be offering a ‘conference-within-a-conference’ addressing the big themes in Knowledge Management, Information Governance and Information Management.
