Recap — Future in Review (FIRe) 2019

I was fortunate to attend Future in Review (FiRe) 2019 and join a panel discussion on Why IT isn’t ready for IIoT. FiRe is an annual conference that brings together scientists, technologists and other visionaries, executives or academics, to explore the future of technology and its impact on the world around us. The Economist has called it “the best technology conference in the world.”

The discussions were fascinating — covering everything from curing diseases by altering genes, to healing via circadian rhythms, the future of computing what roles AI and biology will have, the microbiome opportunity, how cybersecurity is disrupting our world, the future of wireless and satellite networks.

What was most impressive was seeing what can be accomplished when we bring together people with a wide range of experiences and expertise to examine and tackle big problems.

The conversation that I contributed to, for example, underscored the importance of recognizing that protecting ourselves in our mega-connected world requires that we rethink and redefine our technologies, processes and practices, with security and privacy in mind.

The conference reminded me of the importance of exposing ourselves to other domains and thoughts for revitalizing our minds and sparking amazing ideas that can solve big problems.