Congratulations, You’ve Got a Ticket to the President’s Keynote!
Earlier this morning…
It was early in Austin and lucky SXSW attendees were already lined up for a big first: President Obama’s keynote where he was expected to call upon innovators to address our nation’s most pressing problems.
But what you may not know is that 2016 also marks the 5th anniversary of SXSW and The White House’s first date.
SXSW, Meet the Feds
It was 2011 and I was scouting health tech companies at SXSW. In retrospect, 2011 was the break out year for health tech, a sector previously ignored by venture capitalists and innovators. Interestingly, I met very few pharmas, payors, physicians, or device makers. Instead, I met techies and the feds.
In classic SXSW serendipity, Shwen Gwee introduced me to Jane Sarasohn-Kahn and Andre, who in turn introduced me to Aman Bhandari as we crammed into a tiny hotel conference room to hear Todd Park give his inaugural SXSW talk. “How open data can improve America’s health.”
It was the first time that many of us had heard him he rally cry of “data liberation!” His goal: to make health data as free and transparent as weather data.
Little did we know just how much was about to change.
Meanwhile, Aneesh Chopra was also holding court. Prior to coming to Austin, he declared that his trip was s critical component of “the President’s strategy to out-innovate our economic competitors.”
That weekend, the White House and HHS officials engaged in a number of activities, joining in the launch of Rock Health and participated in a roundtable on health and entrepreneurship at UT Austin.
And over the subsequent years, government came out in full force to connect with innovators for a stronger America.
Today. And Tomorrow.
In just about 1 hour, President Obama will take the stage to talk tech.
If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be a federal contractor, connecting agencies such as ED, NASA, HHS, FDA, and EPA with America’s innovators, I would have laughed out loud.
But here’s the beautiful thing about technology: it’s agnostic. While the majority of the industry is focused on applying their skills to the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Like this! Add me! Follow her! Buy the sparkly toothpaste!), there is a growing need for America’s innovators to address our nation’s most pressing problems, such as clean water, safety, health, transportation, and employment.
And so I’d like to take this time to thank everyone who laid the groundwork for the President’s speech today.
And for America tomorrow.
