THE INTERNATIONAL offshoot of the much-lauded TED conference is taking place in Scotland this week.

The annual TEDGlobal event opened in Edinburgh on Monday and continues until tomorrow, under the theme of “Radical Openness”.

This year, the non-profit, Californian-based talks series, which aims to promote “ideas worth spreading”, has so far featured Nato Supreme Commander James Stavridis, quantum researcher Boaz Almog and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Sculptor Antony Gormley, comedian Ruby Wax and cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore have also addressed attendees.

The event is split into 12 sessions covering areas such as “the upside of transparency” and the “public sphere”.

See conferences.ted.com/ TEDGlobal2012