The first Lift Asia talks are here! We start with Bruce Sterling's though-provoking presentation that dealt with how virtual money systems are the financial services for the new urban poor.

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Hanna Cho's note from the session about the "Virtual Money" at LIFT Asia. The first speaker, David Birch, an economist gave his perspective on the future of digital currency, he was followed by science-fiction writer Bruce Sterling.

Science-fiction writer and tech journalist Bruce Sterling joins the LIFT Asia speaker roster. He will participate in the session about the Future of Money, a topic he dealt with few years ago in this Forbes article:
"Money has to be mobile, so as to move from hand to hand with ease. Money needs to be flexible: incarnating itself as coins, paper, bonds, stocks or zipping electronic impulses. Money needs psychological acceptance: The population must unblinkingly accept the fact that a plastic card or flimsy paper is of great value."

Tech journalist and science-fiction writer Bruce Sterling will give the opening speech of the LIFT08 edition. We asked Bruce to give us a "state of the [technological] world address", a 30' overview of what happened in the previous year that struck you as pertinent, interesting and curious to be conveyed to the LIFT audience.