“The Shallows” author Nicholas Carr to speak at 12th annual event; TechPoint seeks breakout session ideas on entrepreneurship, high-tech innovation
TechPoint’s 2010 Innovation Summit will feature iconoclastic technology writer Nicholas Carr as the keynote speaker for the annual event, which promotes and encourages high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Indiana. Carr has been called a leading and influential thinker by technology trade publications, and his latest book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, hit shelves earlier this month.
Carr has authored several influential books and his ideas have been featured in national publications such as The New York Times, Forbes and Wall Street Journal to name a few. His 2008 article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” caused a furor in the tech media when it appeared as a six page cover story in The Atlantic.
“Innovation starts with thinking differently about things we typically take for granted,” said Mark Hill, Chairman of TechPoint and co-founder of Collina Ventures. “Nick Carr certainly provokes us to think differently about issues in technology. In that sense, he’s a perfect keynote speaker for this year’s Summit.”
The annual Innovation Summit brings together hundreds of Hoosier entrepreneurs, high-tech executives and policymakers for learning, dialogue and debate on the central challenge of today’s economy – turning today’s ideas into tomorrow’s business breakthroughs.
In addition to Carr’s keynote remarks, Innovation Summit will feature breakout sessions on a variety of issues for which TechPoint is now issuing a call for panels. Past sessions have focused on innovation in specific industries, such as info-tech, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, logistics, and energy. Broader topics including entrepreneurship, access to venture capital, the university commercialization process, intellectual property rights, and public policy priorities that support innovation are also popular perennial breakout session topics.
“We want our agenda to reflect the most exciting developments in Indiana’s high-tech industries, and subjects that bring the most value to our Hoosier entrepreneurs and innovators,” said Jim Jay, TechPoint’s president and CEO. “One great way to do that is to invite ideas from these groups directly – we hope to get lots of great feedback and put together an outstanding program to complement Nick Carr’s keynote.”
TechPoint is requesting all panel ideas be submitted by June 28. The submission form can be found at: http://www.formstack.com/forms/?970803-C6bi0sBqKT
The 12th annual TechPoint Innovation Summit will take place on October 27 at the Indiana Convention Center. Sponsorships and booth spaces are available. Learn more about the 2010 Innovation Summit at techpoint.org/summit.
About TechPoint
Founded in December 2002, TechPoint is Indiana’s only statewide technology initiative, representing industry stakeholders including publicly-traded companies, private businesses, colleges and research universities, and local economic development organizations. The group’s mission is to transform Indiana into a recognized technology leader by developing relevant policy, catalyzing change, and measuring the state’s progress.
About Nicholas Carr
Nicholas Carr writes on the social, economic, and business implications of technology. He was educated at Dartmouth College and Harvard University. He is the author of the 2008 Wall Street Journal bestseller The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google, which is "widely considered to be the most influential book so far on the cloud computing movement," according the Christian Science Monitor. His earlier book, Does IT Matter?, published in 2004, "lays out the simple truths of the economics of information technology in a lucid way, with cogent examples and clear analysis," said the New York Times. He is working on a new book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, which will be published in 2010. Carr's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.