Organizers of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival (EIF) have announced further details of the 2007 event, claiming an increased focus on the cultural impact and relevance of games, as well as announcing a number of high profile speakers from a variety of disciplines. The 2007 event is due to take place on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th of August, alongside a wide range of other arts festivals in the Scottish capital, usually referred to collectively simply as the Edinburgh Festival. The conference, now in its fifth year, will be staged at the Royal College of Physicians, starting with a keynote address delivered by Ubiosoft CEO Yves Guillemot. The 2007 event will also feature a new partnership with the Dare to be Digital games design competition for students - hosted by Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. The inaugural Digital Interactive Symposium for academics will also take place at Edinburgh University on Wednesday 15th August, while the festival will also host the annual Edge Award in association with Future Publishing. “This year we have much to be excited about,” commented EIF chairman Chris Deering. “We welcome Ubisoft President and Founder Yves Guillemot; Simon Nelson joins us from the BBC; we have a keynote from the Sony Computer Entertainment, a look at technology for Second Life with Linden Labs’ Jim Purbrick and actor Steven Berkoff will join us to discuss how to capture performance within a game.” “The festival is now firmly established as one of the most important events in the interactive entertainment industry’s calendar,” added Deering. Further information on the event can be found at the festival’s official website.