Silicon Valley comes to Ireland this week with the Global Leaders Technology Summit starting in Cork today.

The city will be a "who's who" of technology and innovation, with a number of high-profile speakers including Disney vice-president Una Fox (above), Elan chief information officer Kevin Barrett and Intel vice-president Rory McInerney. Also speaking at the event will be a number of Cork-grown global success stories such as PCH chief executive Liam Casey, Cisco senior vice-president Barry O'Sullivan, CoderDojo founder James Whelton, and Sean O'Donoghue, chief technology officer at Madison Square Garden.

Start-ups and early-stage companies will be able to pitch to venture capitalists and investors from the US, China and Russia in Dragons Den-style sessions.