SXSW 2019 Keyword Spotlight: ‘Rural’
Believe it or not, we’re already on the downslope of voting season for next year’s SXSW. With one week left to vote in the SXSW PanelPicker, this is the public’s last opportunity to weigh in on what kind of content deserves to be featured.
Deserves, because such an important conference bringing diverse people and perspectives from all over the world really isn’t and shouldn’t be a popularity contest. Fortunately the process is designed to consider popularity, but not rely on it, letting the voting process account for about a third of the score that will determine what will be featured. Other factors and a smart editorial board will determine the rest.
Out of more than 5,000 proposals, barely a tenth will make the schedule.
PanelPicker has a great interface for surfacing interesting topics out of the 5,595 candidates. Let’s look at one keyword: ‘rural’
Because I was born and raised in Mississippi, a mostly rural state, when I think of the word, images of farming, small towns, empty shacks, mosquitos, and long distances of bare country between towns comes to mind.
And it is surely that and more, including the richly-textured mountains of Appalachia, with entrepreneurs trying to hold onto their culture while also reinventing the region:
Funding Appalachian and Rural Innovation
The “Story of Appalachia” What does entrepreneurial success look like in Appalachia? Success stories about entrepreneurs need to be cultivated and shared to help increase the notion that entrepreneurship is open and accessible to all, regardless of geographic location.
Appalachian Entrepreneur Ecosystem Builders
Rural Appalachia has unique challenges in entrepreneurship and ecosystem development. This panel will explore those challenges as well as highlighting success stories throughout Appalachia. Often times, entrepreneurship has to happen in rural Appalachia for communities to survive, especially in coal-impacted areas. This panel of women ecosystem builders are creating models to scaled across rural America.
Rising Appalachia: Future of Work and the 4IR
While many Appalachian cities and towns are economically stressed, others are redefining the American economy, pioneering advanced technology, and reimagining the future of work. On your next flight to the Valley, schedule a stop in fly-over country. As it happens, we’re likely you’re next biggest competitor or collaborator and we’re getting the attention of your top talent.
Rural often means a “desert” of some kind, where goods and services common to populated areas are scarce or not found at all.
Closing the Healthcare Gap with TeleHealth and AI
There are many regions in the U.S. where access to basic healthcare is either extremely limited or non-existent — “healthcare deserts.” The National Rural Health Association reports that 77% of rural counties are considered Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas; 9% have no physicians at all. New telehealth applications, often driven by AI, act as a virtual doctor and health coach, providing vital health information to everyone, everywhere, 24/7. Rather than travel hours to the nearest hospital or rely on questionable health information found via Google, people are using telehealth to get immediate, accurate health guidance.
Rural doesn’t just mean America, either. There are sessions on issues facing rural populations from around the world.
The Last Mile: Last Mobile Solutions
For decades, organizations have been trying to solve the last-mile problem, particularly in Africa: how to overcome poor postal systems, connectivity issues, and infrastructural deficits to bring goods and services to areas that are just beyond the reach of current rural and urban logistics. Mobile solutions have changed data gathering and engagement with these hard-to-reach places. Panelists will discuss what’s next for last-mobile in Africa, and how current solutions can be applied further up the value chain around the world.
Build for India
India is a diverse country which cannot be understood without an all out effort to understand its complexity. Solutions which are built for India can be scaled to other developing countries also in the long run. Rural India is very different from urban India, and this meetup aims to bring together entrepreneurs and innovators who understand these differences and use technologies for economies of all sizes.
Solving Problems with Technology in Rural Asia
Asia is mobile-first, fast-emerging, young & dynamic. The opportunity in the region is vast- innovative, ambitious companies are solving problems such as last-mile delivery and better hygiene by applying technology in creative ways to keep pace with consumers. Global corporations can be critical in helping these organizations scale. Here, the global head of Unilever’s platform for startup collaboration will show how its ecosystem in Asia has helped Unilever solve business issues around the world while at the same time improving quality of life.
And there are many more. After voting for each of these worthy proposals, you can type ‘rural’ in the search bar to look at the other 24 entries in the PanelPicker.
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While you’re there, please also consider voting for my own PanelPicker proposal, You Don’t Need Rockstar Engineers, about creating a communication strategy in a product and engineering organization. Thanks!
