A Recap of our September events.
September Event Recap
The Impact of Ubiquitous Bandwidth and Connectivity:
A Multi-Perspective Panel Discussion
Ubiquitous bandwidth may not sound like a controversial topic, but our panelists (Alexander J. Field, Pete DeLisi, Ray Abrishami, and Ann-Louise Kardas) did a great job stirring up our minds to think about the true impact of a constantly connected society. So many aspects of connectedness offer us a double-edged sword. Is it a sad sign of our hyper-conected world that a dad is tapping away on his iPhone during his son’s birthday party? Or are we looking at a positive sign that this dad can now be connected to both the party and the office, where he might have been totally absent before?
Our panel offered insights on the constantly connected brain. They challenged the idea that online social connectedness necessarily has a positive impact on loneliness and isolation. The group also pondered whether increased capability equals increased productivity. The lively dialougue brought out the truth that people have very different ideas on how this increased bandwidth should be “spent” and about whether we are currently putting it to good use.
The conversation that happened at this event gave us a preview into some of the issues that will shape the ubiquitous bandwidth debate in the months and years ahead.
October 6th Society Event
Improvisation & Innovation:
A Powerful Duet in Art, Science & Business with Jeremy Sutton
Artist, author, educator and digital painting pioneer Jeremy Sutton demonstrates through spontaneous, improvised live art-in-action how he harnesses the creative power of improvisation to generate innovation on his digital canvas. During this exciting presentation you will see Jeremy, using state of-the-art digital paint technology, create a live digital portrait of musician, technologist and entrepreneur Howard Lieberman as Howard plays improvised music. Throughout the process Jeremy will share his decision-making strategies and provide insights into how the same principles can be applied in other arts, in science and in business.
Jeremy Sutton—world-renowned artist, author, educator, digital painting pioneer and Corel Painter Master—has drawn and painted for over forty years, and worked with digital painting media for the last eighteen. Please visit www.JeremySutton.com to see more of his artwork and www.PaintboxJ.com for his online training materials.
November 3rd Society Event
Technology Serving Humanity:
Exploring the Impact of Accessible Technology with Jim Fruchterman
Jim Fruchterman believes deeply in the power of technology to transform the world. “We fail to give technologists a model between making scads of money on an idea, or doing charity,” says Jim, “and I think that technology can do so much for the people who can least afford it, as long as the cost is accessible.”
At our November event, we will develop a better understanding of that missing model–the balance between generating profits, and breaking down barriers to technology for the people who could have the greatest benefit.
A bit about Jim Fruchterman:
A technology entrepreneur, Jim Fruchterman is a former rocket scientist who has founded two of the foremost optical character recognition companies and developed successful social enterprises. Jim co-founded Calera Recognition Systems in 1982. Calera developed character recognition that allowed computers to read virtually all printed text.
In 1989, Jim founded Arkenstone, a nonprofit social enterprise, to produce reading machines for the disabled community based on the Calera technology. Following the sale of the Arkenstone product line in 2000, Jim used all the resulting capital to fund Benetech, with an explicit goal of using the power of technology to serve humanity. Jim believes that technology is the ultimate leveler.
December 1st Society Event
NASA’s New Frontiers: A conversation with Bruce Pittman
At our December event, Bruce Pittman of NASA will lead us in an interactive discussion focused on the exciting, innovative, and cutting-edge happenings at NASA. More details to come!