techonomy media
for more information visit www. techonomy. com, and follow techonomy on twitter and facebook .
kitty parry of social media compliance will speak about the challenges for regulators in a social media era at techonomy policy, june 9 in washington, dc. to attend, you can register here .
at techonomy, we believe technology is indispensable for business & social progress. we host conferences & create media to explain the impact. # techonomynyc
internet entrepreneur and author andrew keen will join techonomy media, a new york - based media and events company, as a contributing editor. keen’s ongoing web series, “keenon, ” featuring interviews with leading opinion makers in technology and policy, will move to urltoken from techcrunch .
david kirkpatrick is the founder and chief executive officer of techonomy media, which hosts numerous events globally including the annual techonomy conference on technology' s role in business and social progress (urltoken). he is also an author, journalist and media entrepreneur. he wrote the definitive history and explanation of facebook, the facebook effect: the inside story of the company that is connecting the world .
techonomy and the detroit economic club would like to thank its sponsors and partners including: quicken loans, detroit venture partners, detroit media partnership, mckinsey & company, and the michigan economic development corporation .
techonomy media explores and champions the centrality of technology for business and social progress. the company hosts an annual multidisciplinary techonomy retreat for leaders, and publishes articles and videos to help leaders and companies understand the changes wrought by tech. the annual techonomy conference will take place in november 2017 in half moon bay, california for the eighth consecutive year. the company also hosts an annual one - day public conference in new york .
like many conferences produced by media companies, the live portion of techonomy is exclusive and invitation - only, but it opens to a broader discussion through a partnership with forbes, which covered the event with online articles and video .
“i’m thrilled to bring my interview show to techonomy, ” said keen. “it’s a media company which prioritizes serious, high quality content about how technology is changing the world and thus represents a natural home for my show. ”
be sure to visit the main website for techonomy 2011 at urltoken or access live coverage at urltoken .
for more information on techonomy detroit or to purchase tickets to the event, please visit urltoken or urltoken .
at the techonomy conference in san francisco, bill gates closed the event and answered questions from the audience .
sun microsystems co - founder and kleiner perkins venture capitalist bill joy is among those advising techonomy' s founders .
2 more results for techonomy. com. sign up or log in to access the full and uncovered results .
watch live streaming video of techonomy 2012 at urltoken. follow and tweet about the conference using the hashtag # techonomy12 .
the first annual
techonomy
conference—focused on how technology can drive economic growth— is underway in lake tahoe, calif .
about techonomy: techonomy is about an idea - that technology is firmly at the core of all economic and social progress. our goal is to help leaders and citizens better understand the far - reaching potential of technology - enabled change and to see how this rapid transformation can be harnessed to accelerate progress, productivity and competitiveness. in addition to special events like techonomy detroit, techonomy media inc. organizes the annual techonomy conference in november which brings together about 275 leaders to explore the full range of ways that tech is driving change in business and society. the annual flagship techonomy conferences in 2010 and 2011 included notable speakers such as bill gates, jeff bezos, marc benioff, sean parker, jim breyer, jeffrey katzenberg, eric schmidt, neelie kroes, dan hesse, marissa mayer, craig mundie, esther dyson and hamadoun touré. for more information, visit urltoken
three former editors of fortune magazine are announcing later today the launch of their new media company, techonomy, beginning with a conference planned in tahoe, california this summer. the conference will focus on a message that technology can be used to solve some of societies biggest challenges .
“it seems counterintuitive that in the digital age, physical events are gaining in popularity, ” said ken doctor, a media analyst at outsell inc. , a research firm, adding that, nevertheless, “events have become a significant third stream of revenue, behind circulation and advertising, for media companies. ” he predicts that within a few years, live events may account for 20 percent of media company revenue, through a combination of ticket sales, sponsorship and advertising deals .
in a startling reversal, some start - up media companies are making events their flagship, and then building blogs, e - books or other content around them .
“conferences have been around for a long time, ” said mike federle, chief operating officer of forbes media. “what’s happening now, though, is part of the irony of digital media. as the world is more connected digitally, it only seems to accentuate the need for personal interaction, so conferences are enjoying a real surge. ”
techonomy is about an idea, that technology is firmly at the core of all economic and social progress. our goal is to help leaders and citizens better understand the far - reaching potential of technology - enabled change and to see how this rapid transformation can be harnessed to accelerate progress, productivity and competitiveness. in addition to special events like techonomy detroit, techonomy media inc. organizes the annual techonomy conference in november which brings together about 275 leaders to explore the full range of ways that tech is driving change in business and society. the annual flagship techonomy conferences in 2010 and 2011 included notable speakers such as bill gates, jeff bezos, marc benioff, sean parker, jim breyer, jeffrey katzenberg, eric schmidt, neelie kroes, dan hesse, marissa mayer, craig mundie, esther dyson and hamadoun touré. for more information, visit urltoken .
techonomy media ceo david kirkpatrick said, “i don’t always agree with andrew, but his thinking helps clarify big issues around how tech changes the world. having his energetic voice as part of our editorial constellation helps continue to build urltoken into a central forum for discussions on the transformations tech brings to business and society. ”
three former fortune staffers say their new techonomy conference and web site aim to transcend traditional tech circles. some big names have signed on .
keen joins techonomy from techcrunch, where he was a columnist covering the impact of new technology on 21st century business, education and society .
facebook ceo mark zuckerberg sat down at techonomy 2016 with chief techonomist, david kirkpatrick, for an exclusive interview that made worldwide headlines. show less
beth chappell, president & ceo, detroit economic club; allan d. gilmour, president, wayne state university; david kirkpatrick, founder, techonomy
i founded social media compliance because i saw that social media was an area that could pioneer this model of regulation. a third party, sitting between the regulator and talking to the industry, could collect information on business challenges and concerns, and feed this into the regulator. at the same time, that party could push for clarity and assurance from the regulator about where the goal posts were .
social media, and indeed wider tech platforms, have a huge role to play in promoting these pillars. if any country can figure out a constructive framework for financial institutions to interact with consumers and the public through these new tech tools, it' s likely other countries will emulate it. with this in mind, the social media charter association is holding our inaugural global regulators summit this december .
david kirkpatrick, peter petre, and brent schlender, all formerly of fortune magazine, are teaming up to launch techonomy, a new conference and web site .
techonomy’s first keenon segment will debut november 5 with guest walter isaacson discussing his best - selling new book “the innovators” and the past and future of the technology industry .
in the u. k. we have been working closely with the financial conduct authority on its final guidance on social media. for industry, we have drawn up a charter that gives firms guiding principles that help them remain compliant. we have expanded on these principles to develop a platform for financial services to engage in social media. we are now beginning talks with global regulators and aim very soon to expand the platform to other countries .
techonomy is a media company that aims to elevate the dialogue about the role of technology and innovation in business and social progress. our annual flagship techonomy conference gathers leaders of tech, business, government, science, academia and ngos to cross - fertilize and share both enthusiasm and alarm at the pace of tech - driven transformation. for the last three years at techonomy detroit we have hosted dialogue about tech’s role in u. s. competitiveness, jobs, and urban revival. next year we also plan conferences on the life sciences in silicon valley march 25, and on policy in washington june 9. through events, editorial coverage and video we seek to accelerate progress and productivity in business and society. see urltoken for more .
“it’s fine to outsource at the beginning while you’re learning, ” mr. doctor, the media analyst, said, “but if events become a third or fourth revenue source, i’d want to have that expertise inside. ”
during the final sessions of the techonomy conference, moderator david kirkpatrick conversed with reid hoffman, founder of linkedin and sean parker of the founders fund, founding president, facebook .
last year, godaddy announced it joined the mit media lab and is collaborating with a team of researchers led by professor kamvar to explore technologies that have the future potential to provide small businesses with new and better ways to achieve success .
over 2, 600 media from more than 100 markets came to web summit in 2017. it’s not just editors from many of the world’s most influential publications, but market - shaping industry reporters from leading technology and trade publications and blogs .
in partnership with campus tel aviv (powered by google entrepreneurs), techonomy will facilitate a series of conversations on june 5th in tel aviv about israel’s emerging role as a tech superpower. the two - hour event will begin with a talk by techonomy’s david kirkpatrick, followed by a panel discussion entitled “can israel be the tech capital for the next five billion? ”
some magazines produced conferences in the past, but typically for brand - building, not profit. it wasn’t until the ad drought of 2008 and the rise of social media and mobile computing that companies really started to grasp the potential of live publishing .
today, carrie van heyst, 45, is answering yes to those questions by becoming involved in the media industry’s move toward live publishing — the simultaneous production of live events and spin - off content for print, video, the web and mobile devices .
in 2011, the second techonomy conference drew participants including marissa mayer, esther dyson, jack dorsey, jeffrey katzenberg, steve case and lyle lovett. attendees paid $ 4, 500 each, plus lodging and airfare. attendee fees make up roughly half techonomy’s revenue; the balance comes from sponsorships, which cost $ 65, 000 to $ 375, 000 each, mr. kirkpatrick said .
at the techonomy conference in san francisco, nicholas negroponte talked about the latest success of the one laptop per child. the most impressive advance is that children are teaching their parents to read. watch .
in the opening session of techonomy 2012 in tucson today, techonomy founder david kirkpatrick interviewed kurzweil on stage. their conversation covered the exponential progression of software, how the brain works, what it will mean to think
in the cloud
or have the intelligence of ibm' s watson computer at our fingertips, and what functions humans will still have once computers can do the jobs of even the most educated among us .
techonomy' s name embodies our beliefs and our mission—it combines the words
technology
and
economy
because technology has become a central part of the economy in which we operate and the society in which we live. today technology is inextricably entwined with just about every activity that humans undertake. we embrace that fact, and seek as a company to help the world take advantage of it. we seek conversation at the highest level about the role of technology in social progress, as we advocate for greater understanding about the pace of change and what it means for everyone. techonomy media hosts conferences and publishes editorial content on our website and in our newsletter, including a growing amount of video journalism .
since the dna event, social media, streaming video and mobile computing have made cross - platform content easier to create and view. recently, as companies have crawled out of the recession, more van heyst clients have become interested in the potential of live events combined with digital content .
media clients aren’t the only ones to respond to carrie van heyst’s efforts to make events more open. this year, for instance, the van heyst group developed a live blog with video, photographs and text for the cisco i. t. executive symposium, for 125 corporate executives .
kirkpatrick said he has been hanging on to the techonomy web site domain for more than a decade, acquiring it after it had been abandoned by a wall street trading business set - up during the dot - com boom .
[ ai is ] the silent killer. i think you will see a lot of very large companies be displaced by companies that are actually smarter because of the applications they’ve given their employees .
@ heidimesser via @ techonomy
social media is another case in point. communication has suddenly in a few short years shifted online and into the public forum. but regulated financial firms face complicated limits on what they can say and which of their employees can say it. these old regulations are challenging as social media tools impact behavior. for example, if employees are endorsed by clients and peers on linkedin in an innocent manner, that may be viewed as a testimonial and therefore influencing a client / customer' s decision - - which in turn breaches policy. such breaches of policy are out of the company' s control .
still, for the moment, live publishing has been good news for the van heyst group, where media businesses now represent half of its clients. the company, which had to lay off half its staff in the recession, has grown back to 16 employees. revenue has risen to $ 2 million, and the company expects to turn its first profit in five years in 2012, carrie van heyst said. and, like its media clients, it is moving to diversify its income. it has developed a proprietary software tool, which it now licenses to clients, to help manage and develop audiences for very large events .
the fourth annual techonomy 2013 will take place nov. 11 - 13 at the ritz - carlton dove mountain near tucson. participants the past three years included marc benioff, jim breyer, jack dorsey, esther dyson, bill gates, reid hoffman, jeffrey katzenberg, neelie kroes, ray kurzweil, sean parker, eric schmidt, padmasree warrior, and jeff weiner. techonomy also hosts techonomy detroit, sept. 17, focused on u. s. economic issues and jobs in a technologizing age, and dinners and other smaller events this year in new york, menlo park, tel aviv, hong kong, and elsewhere. it publishes extensive video and editorial content on technology' s integral role in, increasingly, everything .
techonomy events bring together the world’s top executives, academics, government officials, and technologists to explore the impact of emerging tech trends on social and economic progress. from facebook' s mark zuckerberg, to kaiser permanente ceo bernard tyson, to the us secretary of commerce penny pritzker, techonomy is where hundreds of leaders have come to tackle the challenges and opportunities that technology has created. in may 2017, techonomy is bringing together an amazing group of leaders in new york city and want you to be part of the conversation. if you are inspired by new ideas and believe that technology has the potential to positively change the world, you can’t afford to miss this event. techonomy health takes place on may 16, and brings together doctors, innovators, policymakers and insurgent entrepreneurs to explore what healthcare can become in a technologized and hyper - connected age, how advances in technology are shaping the future of healthcare, and extending it beyond the walls of doctors’ offices and hospitals into all our lives .
at the techonomy conference in san francisco, bill gates closed the event and answered questions from the audience. one woman asked why non - profits can' t behave more like for - profit businesses. gates said that wasn' t necessarily the best idea .
new york city — techonomy detroit, hosted by the detroit economic club, will be a unique one - day multidisciplinary gathering of national and local leaders focused on reigniting u. s. competitiveness, creating jobs, and revitalizing our cities in an age of technology .
david kirkpatrick, brent schlender, and peter petre are teaming up to launch techonomy, a conference and web site devoted to the role that technology can and must play in transforming all aspects of business and society - - not just those that the internet has already transformed .
he value of social media is to agggregate power for useful purposes. second, that transparency and privacy are two opposing but essential components in our techonomic future. finally, technology has the potential to successfully address many of the world' s problems, but the delays of government red tape and bureaucracy may thwart our ability to respond fast enough for our own survival .
during techonomy detroit, venkatesh prasad, senior technical leader of open innovation at ford motor company met with detroit venture partners vice president jake cohen and three of their startups in their portfolio to discuss how today' s connected car can help bring new innovations to the start up community .
what is techonomy? it' s the combination of technology and economy. the premise, says peter petre, one of techonomy llc' s three founders, is that invention creates new resources and is the source of value creation. the three founders of the techonomy are petre, david kirkpatrick, and brent schlender, all three former fortune magazine editors. they stressed the urgency of having this conference right now—the world' s challenges are bigger than ever. but the wild card, schlender says, is that the world is more networked than ever. the unprecedented networking of the world now creates what shlender calls a
cumulative intelligence ,
which gives the three techonomists behind this event great optimism. this conference aims to introduce people from wide - ranging fields to spark innovation—as shlender says, combine two disparate things to create a
third thing .
across town at the exact same time, at another conference focused on the intersection of technology, business and government, the sharing economy was also under the microscope. the conference, called techonomy policy, included participation from the f. t. c. and the federal communications commission .
in an age when speed - to - market is valued over all else, the manufacturers that best utilize technology for r & d, production, and delivery will win. at least that’s what a panel of experts, including plex systems cto jerry foster, said at techonomy detroit .
like all our events, techonomy nyc is founded on these central questions: how can we collectively drive towards a more productive, fairer, wealthier society? and how does everything change in a networked, measured and analyzed world? in turbulent times these questions are more urgent than ever .
“the time is now for an aggressive discussion of the many ways tech’s rapid evolution is changing the way we must think about our economy and our cities, ” said david kirkpatrick, founder, host and ceo of techonomy media and author of the facebook effect. “detroit’s economic struggles make it an apt stage for a national conversation on the role of tech in progress for cities, industries, economy and society. and in detroit you can feel the nascent energy of revival driven by business and the local community. we’re pleased that the detroit economic club and president beth chappell share our passion for this unfolding technologized future and have joined to host this unique event. ”
techonomy nyc is a unique big - picture exploration of how technology transforms business and society, about how tech is changing everything else. that' s what all leaders and managers need to understand. we' ll touch big - picture themes like artificial intelligence, privacy, security and the internet of things .
techonomy 2010 is in the can. the event exceeded our greatest expectations for a variety of reasons, but they all boil down to the intellectual synergies that emerged from the eclectic and amazing group that came together for three days in early august at lake tahoe. we thank all who participated in any way .
of course, corporate communications at many companies still shy away from the limelight. as for media companies, even if live events do become a significant third platform, that’s no guarantee of steady work for the van heyst group. it’s certainly not the only company producing thought - leader events. and even if it manages to outperform its rivals, some clients may decide to take the organizing in - house .
scottsdale, ariz. , may 13, 2016 / prnewswire / - - godaddy inc. (nyse: gddy), the world' s largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses, today announced that rene reinsberg, vice president of emerging products at godaddy, will speak at techonomy nyc on may 26 th at new york university .
keen will also join business leaders, technologists, innovators and academics at the techonomy 2014 conference in half moon bay, calif. , november 9 - 11. he will speak about his upcoming book “the internet is not the answer” and moderate the session “confronting the internet counter - reaction. ” additionally, he will film segments for keenon .
the techonomy conference is slated for august 4 to 6 at the ritz - carlton resort near lake tahoe, calif. the group has already attracted some big - name sponsors and speakers. slated to talk are microsoft chairman bill gates, google ceo eric schmidt, and former sony ceo nobuyuki idei. sponsors include intel, chevron, and hewlett - packard .
reinsberg, an mit alum, and professor sep kamvar, director of the mit media lab' s social computing research group, will present about
small businesses, the neighborhood and smart cities .
the discussion will explore how new technologies and the explosion of big data is helping transform city planning and the impact on small business, schools and neighborhoods. attendees will also see a special sneak preview of a new app launching soon that taps into the power of crowdsourcing to bring new ideas to neighborhoods and businesses .
the editors, david kirkpatrick, peter petre and brent schlender, say they are optimists about progress. kirkpatrick, who first told me last year about his plans to launch the media company, says technology can do everything from help clean up the environment to create breakthroughs in personalized healthcare. they’re starting with the conference, kirkpatrick (pictured in the middle) told me in a phone call, because events have proven they can make money. only in the fall, after the conference is over, will the company launch an online magazine .
when david kirkpatrick, a former fortune editor and author of “the facebook effect, ” began his company, techonomy, in 2010, he worked with the van heyst group to introduce it, with a conference for nearly 300 business leaders at the ritz - carlton at lake tahoe. “events are not the only thing we do, or are going to do, but we started with them because they’re reliably profitable, ” he said .
emerging technologies and data science can transform cities and impact small businesses and the neighborhoods in which they operate in fascinating ways ,
said reinsberg .
while a lot of our work at godaddy is focused on the digital space, it has been exciting to explore innovation in the physical realm and see research from the lab deployed in the real world. i am honored to present with sep kamvar at techonomy nyc this year and share some of our findings .
“by hosting techonomy in detroit, we’re continuing our commitment of nearly 80 years to provide a platform for the most important business, government and social issues of the day, ” said beth chappell, president and ceo of the detroit economic club. “with detroit at the forefront of national discussion on the future of business in american cities, our members and business community will hear, first - hand, from leading voices about the trends and ideas that will make a difference here and around the world. ”
the first panel examined the idea of techonomy, with google ceo eric schmidt, lisa randall, professor of theoretical physics at harvard, wired magazine co - founder and
senior maverick
kevin kelly, and deborah hopkins, citigroup' s chief innovation officer. wired' s kelly provided the big picture perspective, saying
technology really is the most powerful force in the world .
he described this web that technology is weaving—all the content and technology people are making are so interdependent, it forms its own
emergent thing ,
a network that has its own behaviors .
kelly asks if this
thing
we' re part of has agency, then what does this thing want? he says we' re all both subject and object to technology—masters and creators of it, and children of it, and we can' t escape that dichotomy. kelly says that the beauty of
techonomy
is that it is not a zero sum game. kirkpatrick, who moderated the panel, asked for schmidt' s perspective, calling google the ultimate technomic company. schmidt says he spends most of his time assuming the world is not ready for the technologic revolution that' s happening to them relatively soon .
techonomy returns to detroit for the third year of intense conversation about the future of america and its cities as the waves of technology transformation continue washing over all of us. our themes are jobs, u. s. growth and competitiveness, and the revival and growth of our cities. we start with a reception in the rivera court of the detroit institute of arts and follow with an intense day of plenary and breakout sessions at wayne state university. come join jack dorsey of square, jennifer bradley of the brookings institute, stacy brown - philpot of taskrabbit, zach sims of codecademy, designer brooks atwood, gabriella gómez - mont of the city laboratory of mexico city, jerry paffendorf of loveland technologies, april rinne of the world economic forum, tony scott of vmware, zia yusuf of streetline, philip zelikow of the university of virginia and a bunch of others for a full day of conversation about technology’s growing impact on jobs, cities and economic renewal .
the ai event of the year for growth marketers. aug. 21 - 22
the best in ai. an invite - only executive event. oct. 22 - 23
kirkpatrick said the new online publication will use things like video and long - form news journalism, but otherwise it hasn’t been fully planned out .
he said most people don’t fully understand how powerful technology innovation can be, and that greater awareness can lead to faster change .
the conference will be held on august 4 - 6, and already has attracted significant speakers: microsoft founder and chairman bill gates, google chief executive eric schmidt, cisco chief technology officer padmasree warrior, and citigroup chief technology officer deborah hopkins, among others .
( disclosure: i’ve agreed to attend the conference and to moderate one of the discussions, mainly because i agree with the philosophical direction of these guys. )
on tuesday, the federal trade commission held a daylong workshop dedicated to examining internet peer - to - peer platforms like uber, airbnb and postmates, and their offerings of on - demand rides, beds and slices of cake. regulators, academics and industry representatives got together to consider the government’s place in overseeing those businesses .
the conversations were not uncontroversial. sitting next to the head of global public policy for airbnb, vanessa sinders of the american hotel and lodging association warned against “rogue commercial interests” like airbnb that were going unregulated. in some places, she said, “they are simply illegal hotels. ”
others said it was too soon for the government to intervene in a bigger way. liran einav, an economics professor at stanford university, said he did not think regulations should be extended to the sharing economy just yet. “we should let it play out for a few years to get an idea of how it will operate, and then customize a level playing field, ” he said .
not everyone saw things that way. “it’s wrong that uncertainty should lead to forbearance, ” said glen weyl, a senior researcher with microsoft research. “i’m not sure we have the luxury of saying, ‘we don’t know what’s going on here, let’s wait and see. ’ ”
some companies spoke up to say that they were regulating themselves. david hantman, head of global policy for airbnb, invoked ratings systems and background checks as practices that reduced the need for regulatory intervention .
joshua s. gans of the university of toronto echoed that opinion, saying he trusted his teenage children to ride with uber but not the toronto taxi system. “it’s because i know there’s no privacy, ” he said. “i know where they’re going, and i know who the driver is. that’s pretty tough regulation right there. ”
matthew w. daus, former commissioner and chairman of the new york city taxi and limousine commission, took issue with calling uber a member of the sharing economy .
“we’re coming up with these incredible definitions and clarifications, and i’m just trying to throw some water on everybody’s faces, ” mr. daus said. “there’s no sharing going on. this is about for - hire transportation, and there needs to be a level playing field, ” he said, suggesting that capping the number of vehicles on the road was necessary .
“how sustainable is this? ” asked arun sundararajan, a professor at new york university’s business school .
it was a question raised repeatedly at both conferences on tuesday, and one left largely unanswered .
“we have no predictive power, ” mr. gans said, referring to what share economy sharing platforms might someday make up in the overall economy. twenty percent, 50 percent, 80 percent? speakers speculated without casting votes .
“the issue is the nature of work, ” mr. gans said. “are people going to prefer a lifestyle that allows them to pick and choose more? ”
and uncertainty, entrepreneurial opportunity and job insecurity was also central to tuesday’s conversations .
mr. sundararajan of n. y. u. said he thought that at the heart of debate over regulating the sharing economy was the fact that it had blurred the lines between personal and professional realms, commercializing some tasks historically performed for friends. “we’ve always given people rides to the airport, ” he said. “we’ve lent our apartments to friends and cooked meals for them. ”
he said it was important that regulators acknowledge that, and that they recognize self - regulation as not only an option but also as a way to let the government take on new burdens. “maybe there are things the third parties can shoulder that the government used to shoulder, ” he said .
in a statement on tuesday, gary shapiro, president and chief executive of the consumer electronics association, said he was grateful that the federal trade commission was examining the sharing economy, which he called “free - market economics at its best. ”
“we look forward to participating more fully, as the f. t. c. continues to work with stakeholders and achieve a better understanding of these new and innovative economic models, ” mr. shapiro said .
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if you know electronic synthesized music, you know the work of ray kurzweil. but the mit futurist and transhumanist has many more inventions to his name than electronic keyboards. he' s also developed a cult following for his prediction of the merging of humans and computers, which he describes in his book the singularity is near. and in a forthcoming book, how to create a mind: the secret of human thought revealed, he offers the most advanced explanation to date for how our brains work .
i' ve been thinking about thinking for 50 years ,
kurzweil says .
in coming years we' ll be doing a lot of our thinking in the cloud .
is that another way of saying we will all have access to watson, the ibm computer that won jeopardy, in whatever we do? kirkpatrick asks. as a first step, yes :
people are quick to dismiss watson, but watson got a higher score than the best humans together by reading wikipedia and 200 million pages of other encyclopedias ,
kurzweil says .
as an example of how rapidly society is moving toward that level of information access, kurzweil points out that
a kid in africa with a cell phone has access to more intelligence than the president of the united states did 15 years ago .
ultimately, he says, artificial intelligence will operate at
the best human levels .
will experts such as physicians, for instance, be rendered redundant once computers acquire and are able to act on medical data? kirkpatrick asks .
in the same way people in google cars become more comfortable with ai driving than with human drivers, kurzweil predicts that computer intelligence will become a reliable tool that people will become dependent on .
my sense is we' re making computers in our own image and we' ll be merging - - we already have - - with that technology. we' re going to use those tools to make ourselves more intelligent .
but he doesn' t sell short the power of the human brain. his thesis for how the neocortex works is that it has a uniform algorithm. though humans are limited to 300 million pattern recognizers, only the neocortex can do hierarchical thinking and only mammals have a neocortex .
there are still tasks for humans to do, he says: relating to other humans and understanding them, being funny, sexy, expressing a loving sentiments. these are not sideshows to human intelligence, that' s the cutting edge of human intelligence .
computers can' t yet replicate that .
only recently have we been able to see inside the brain, to see internal connections forming and firing in real time ,
kurzweil says. the project to understand the human brain is
grand and somewhat diffuse ,
but there are three fundamental reasons for it, he says .
1) to be able to fix the brain better, to fix certain connections, such as in parkinson' s disease, based on better insight into how it works and with better tools to intervene .
2) to provide models to create better machines, better artificial intelligence. kurzweil notes that the technique that has taken over much of ai development is similar to the mathematical technique the brain uses. as we understand how the brain does intelligent things, we can create more intelligent machines, he says .
3) to better understand ourselves. after all, kurzweil says ,
that' s the purpose of art and science .
asked if he' s an optimist or a pessimist, kurzweil says there' s a difference between being optimistic about the feasibility of technology versus being optimistic about the desirability for technological advances .
i' m an optimist on feasibility ,
he says. after all, he' s predicted
the singularity
is nearer than most others have predicted. on desirability, kurzweil says he' s considered an optimist, despite having written extensively about the potential undesirable uses for technology .
we' re working on programming biology away from disease, but the same tools could be used to develop bioweapons. we' ve all seen in movies where ai is unfriendly, and that' s not crazy at all. if you have an entity more intelligent than you are bent on your destruction that' s not a good thing .
how to prevent the use of technology for evil ?
ai doesn' t exist in a few unstable laboratories; it' s empowering all of humanity ,
kurzweil says .
the best way to reflect values we cherish in the future is to practice them today. it' s not foolproof, but that' s the nature of history .
first - person essays, features, interviews and q & as; about life today .
leaving a big publication to launch one' s own conference and web site isn' t exactly newfangled .
but three former fortune staffers hope that what distinguishes their event will be the scale of the problems that it attempts to address .
the idea is that technology is really the only way we are going to solve the world' s problems ,
kirkpatrick said in a telephone interview on monday .
society' s problems are so grave that we have to really work to solve them more willfully and consciously using technology in all of its guises .
at the same time, businesses in almost every industry are also faced with the choice of adapting to take advantage of technology or being rendered extinct. it' s certainly something the trio saw during their years of work at a magazine giant .
you can apply this same argument to any company in any business ,
kirkpatrick said .
no business enterprise has the luxury of disregarding the way that technology is inevitably going to change the business of what it does .
i think there' s an opportunity for a new kind of discussion around how the kind of ideas that have driven silicon valley get applied to the broader economy ,
joy said in an interview .
one of the problems, kirkpatrick acknowledges, is that the people who most need the message - - those who aren' t already convinced of the role of technology - - are the same ones who are least likely to attend the event, while the first to sign up are likely to be those who already share their mindset .
kirkpatrick said he first started talking about the idea of a new conference last january, but didn' t actually put his money down to book the ritz until october. landing gates as a speaker definitely helped get the ball rolling, he said .
the group' s ambitions don' t stop with the conference and its companion web site. kirkpatrick one day hopes
technomy
and
techonomic
will one day be used to describe the people, companies, and even countries that really get the impact of technology .
that' s our dream ,
he said ,
to try to have impact on the dialogue .
with that, the magazine veteran stopped himself, acknowledging the road is long between a start - up and a place in webster' s dictionary. for now, he' ll be happy if the inaugural conference is a success .
when it went under i took over the url ,
he said .
the name, he said, has had a rather large impact on how the event took shape .
it really does suggest what we are interested in - - the role of technology in all aspects of modern life ,
kirkpatrick said .
that' s our dream, to try to have impact on the dialogue .
green technology, and more broadly how to use technology to address environmental issues like climate change and overpopulation, will be one focus of the event .
we obviously have a need for green jobs and green innovation ,
joy said .
there are a lot more tech entrepreneurs in the internet and computers than there are in the green space. i think the technical ideas to start a lot of great businesses are there .
kirkpatrick, who also helped launch fortune' s brainstorm conference, said he hopes to reclaim some of the energy that event had in its early days when it was held in aspen, colo. , and drew the likes of bill clinton and king abdullah. fortune still runs confabs under the brainstorm brand, but kirkpatrick said that they aren' t the same conference he helped to launch .
the things that are now called brainstorms are spin - offs that are totally different ,
he said .
the technology conference circuit, once dominated by large events like comdex, is now centered around a slew of smaller gatherings, including next month' s d: all things digital and events put on by the publishers of techcrunch, gigaom, and paidcontent .
for many upstart web sites, the event business has proven to be a major profit engine, even if most of their attention comes from web publishing efforts. knowing this, kirkpatrick said his group is starting with the conference, with plans to move into more publishing this fall. kirkpatrick said he his team is committed to journalism, including long - form text and video .
be respectful, keep it clean and stay on topic. we delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion .
the conference' s tag line :
a new philosophy of progress .
the three days of meetings and panels was kicked off by a flashy video describing the range of problems facing the globe and the importance of drawing on innovation to solve them. the single biggest ramification of technology is global empowerment .
a sign is displayed outside of the google headquarters in mountain view, california .
what does he mean? that every two days we create as much data as we created in all history up until 2003. a lot of that data is user generated, and schmidt says a lot of that comes from
people describing enormous amounts of things about themselves .
schmidt warns that society is fundamentally not ready for user - powered technology. he says the only way to manage issues—like misuse of technology by people with bad intentions—is much greater transparency and a complete lack of anonymity. schmidt says true anonymity on the internet is dangerous. citi' s hopkins explained how technology is changing the bank' s business approach. hopkins said the company is embracing technology to find a different way to push product out the door and engage with individuals in a new way. she says while the past was about vertical integration, the future is about
the horizontal, partnerships and collaboration .
they put a chip on a card to engage with people based on their location. citi revamped its entire consumer banking approach in japan, removing paper and editing down 150 processes to 12. harvard' s randall stressed that it' s crucial that we remember the importance of basic technology. rather than just fund research into technology pursuing a specific end, we need to pursue big - picture research .
randall reminded that all electronics is based on physics, quantum mechanics and transistor technology. while we' ve seen a trend towards science becoming more applied, she advocated for research of general ideas that don' t have a direct application. randall also insisted upon the importance of incorporating technology' s remarkable rate of change into economic models. pointing to the financial crisis, randall noted that risks associated with accelerating technology aren' t necessarily taken into account by economists. risks could be avoided if economists thought about the changes technology could enable. the laughs in the panel came curing an answer to a question about technology' s all - encompassing reach. eric schmidt described the importance of technology' s proverbial off button, joking that he can turn off his devices for 90 minutes .
two days ?
kirkpatrick asked. ninety minutes, schmidt said—just long enough for dinner .
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kirkpatrick' s bestselling book on facebook has been published in 34 countries and was a finalist for the financial times / goldman sachs business book of the year as well as the gerald loeb award. he was for many years senior editor for internet and technology at fortune where he wrote numerous cover stories and created and hosted fortune brainstorm conference series. kirkpatrick writes regularly for vanity fair, forbes, and linkedin. he is a member of the council on foreign relations .
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della van heyst, left, and her daughter carrie run a business that helps companies plan live events and turn them into products for print, video and web distribution .
like the founders of the ted conferences after her, della van heyst understood the importance of putting smart people in front of an audience to express their ideas .
back in the digital dark ages of the late 1970s, she introduced a conference that became the influential stanford publishing course, a two - week retreat for people in the publishing industry. over the years, industry luminaries like nan talese, lewis lapham and helen gurley brown, as well as rising technology stars like jeff bezos, taught at the conference. from that success grew the van heyst group, which della ran with her daughter, carrie, to plan conferences for large companies .
but a few years ago, della was preparing to retire. (she is now 73 .) it was then that carrie faced “a dark night of the soul, ” she said, as she wondered whether she could keep running the company.
techonomy media inc. is an american conference and media company founded in 2011 and headquartered in new york , ny . techonomy organizes the annual invitation-only thought leadership techonomy conference , which focuses on how the accelerating advancement of technology is transforming business and can help address the world 's pressing needs . it is led by david kirkpatrick ( author ) , a former technology editor of fortune . business and tech executives such as bill gates of microsoft , and ray kurzweil and eric schmidt of google have all participated . its current advisory board consists of marc benioff of salesforce.com , jack dorsey of twitter and square , reid hoffman of linkedin , and padmasree warrior of cisco , among others . 
techonomy media inc. is an american conference and media company founded in 2011 and headquartered in new york, ny. techonomy organizes the annual invitation-only thought leadership techonomy conference, which focuses on how the accelerating advancement of technology is transforming business and can help address the world's pressing needs. it is led by david kirkpatrick (author), a former technology editor of fortune. business and tech executives such as bill gates of microsoft, and ray kurzweil and eric schmidt of google have all participated. its current advisory board consists of marc benioff of salesforce.com, jack dorsey of twitter and square, reid hoffman of linkedin, and padmasree warrior of cisco, among others.
techonomy media inc. is an american conference and media company founded in 2011 and headquartered in new york, ny. techonomy organizes the annual invitation-only thought leadership techonomy conference, which focuses on how the accelerating advancement of technology is transforming business and can help address the world's pressing needs. it is led by david kirkpatrick (author), a former technology editor of fortune. business and tech executives such as bill gates of microsoft, and ray kurzweil and eric schmidt of google have all participated. its current advisory board consists of marc benioff of salesforce.com, jack dorsey of twitter and square, reid hoffman of linkedin, and padmasree warrior of cisco, among others.