GDC 2011 expands schedule with new Summits

New summits have been confirmed for the GDC 2011 event, as submissions open for speakers to present at the conference.

A new Smartphone Summit has expanded the event's repertoire, which will include the return of last year's Social and Online Games Summit. The Smartphone Summit is intended to enable developers for mobile platforms to share knowledge on the smartphone market, including Apple's portable iOS devices and the Android OS.

Also on the agenda are the return of the Independent Games Summit, which runs as part of the Independent Games Festival at GDC, and the 2011 Serious Games Summit – devoted to the use of gaming as a concept and tool to assist in healthcare programs and non-game related applications.

The schedule is completed by the AI Summit, the Game Education Summit, and the Game Localisation Summit. Each Summit will feature a full complement of specialised industry figures who will be advising on their individual areas of expertise.

Current advisers include Playdom's Steve Meretzky, the Institute for the Future's Jane McGonigal, Disney Mobile and Tapulous' Bart Decrem and Intrinsic Algorithm's Dave Mark.

These summits will take place Monday, February 28 and Tuesday, March 1, 2011, just before the full GDC schedule begins on Wednesday, March 2. GDC 2011 concludes on Friday, March 4.

A call for submissions has opened, inviting potential speakers to register their interest to present at the Summits. Full criteria for submissions are available at the event's website.