Technical professional organization IEEE announced this past week that it will be hosting a “Tech for Humanity Series” at the upcoming SXSW Conference, running from March 8th through the 18th in Austin Texas. The chosen theme that has an extensive slate of speakers and sessions aligns with the organization’s mission of “advancing technology for humanity”, and focuses on the future of quantum computing, machine learning and “machine consciousness,” and digital identity.
William Hurley, founder and CEO of Strangeworks, Inc. and Chair of IEEE’s Quantum Computing Working Group, will deliver on March 13th the SXSW Convergence Keynote address entitled “The Endless Impossibilities of Quantum Computing”.
“This IEEE Tech for Humanity session will expose the radical paradigm shift quantum computing will drive in emerging technology, highlight how it will permanently alter the computing landscape and influence shifts in the balance of international power,” said Hurley in the press statement announcement.
Hurley believes there is a race underway among countries to be the world’s first quantum computing superpower. He estimates that billions of dollars of investments are being spent on “technological advancements that could change humanity’s future”.
Hurley is just one of 30 global technologists and thought leaders who will participate in the 12 speaking sessions that will explore a range of leading-edge technologies. Other prominent speakers include former Secretary US Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff; Poppy Crum, Dolby Chief Scientist and Associate IEEE Member; Doc Searls, Co-Author of The Cluetrain Manifesto and director of ProjectVRM at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University; among others.
The IEEE “Tech for Humanity Series” that was curated with SXSW will have two SXSW Featured Sessions. Dean Kamen, world-renown inventor and founder of DEKA Research & Development, FIRST®, and FIRST® Global will present Regenerative Medicine and Human Tissue Manufacturing. The second Featured Session will be Extreme Bionics: The Future of Human Ability and will present Hugh Herr, Co-Founder the Center for Extreme Bionics, MIT Media Lab; Aimee Mullins, actress, model and the first female amputee to compete in the NCAA; and Professor Hans Georg Naeder, third-generation CEO of the world’s leading prosthetic and orthotic manufacturer Ottobock.
The other IEEE sessions are:
- A Game-Changing Shift in Control of Personal Data
- A Hearable Future: Sound and Sensory Interface
- A Roboticist, Ethicist, & Novelist Walk Into a Bar
- Algorithms, Unconscious Bias, & AI
- Binding Emotion & Memory: Science, Story & Scent
- Body Computing, Security & Human Safety
- Can We Create Consciousness in a Machine?
- Clinical VR: Therapy with Potential & Power
- Full Body Immersive: The Future of Fun
The full session and speaker lineup can be found on the IEEE “Tech for Humanity” series landing page.
The IEEE is also hosting its’ fifth annual Official SXSW party which will be held at the historic Driskill Hotel on March 11th and will have music, open bar, STEAM carnival entertainment from Two Bit Circus, IEEE Technology displays and more. A private, invitation-only VIP/Media preview hour preceding the party is open to interested press through contact with the IEEE party organizer.
IEEE’s three one-hour Meet Up networking events for SXSW badge holders are:
- The IEEE Future of the Human Body Meet Up, cohosted by IEEE and Ottobock, March 11th
- The IEEE Young Professionals Meet Up, March 12
- The Annual IEEE Women in Tech Meet Up hosted by IEEE Women in Engineering, March 12th
IEEE’s experiential trade show booth will be in place from March 11th through the 14th and will feature “IEEE uniVRse,” an experience of emerging augmented, mixed and virtual reality technologies.
