CONTEX Conference

Date of Event: October 7, 2021

In Person and Virtually

The Converging Technologies Conference

Join Leaders Who are Disrupting Business Models and Creating New Ecosystems

See Companies that are Creating New Ecosystems

Gathering Prominent Industry Leaders to Share Actionable Insights Across Industries

Contex Conference

 

Exponential Era Exponential Era Exponential Era Exponential Era

Welcome to the Exponential Era

Are you prepared to thrive during this era of rapid changes? Digital disruptions resulting from platform technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), and flexible cloud computing are converging with technologies like 3D printing, 5G, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), creating a new set of ecosystems that are transforming our economics, our nations, and our lives.

While experts and pundits have predicted a multitude of potential futures, the CONTEX Conference is uniquely positioned to provide meaningful and actionable insights to embrace the transformations to come. This is why Intercepting Horizons, a strategic advisory services company for the Exponential Era, and the University of St. Thomas are gathering leaders and executives, currently implementing disruptive solutions and transforming markets, to speak on the innovative technologies that are propelling their businesses forward at this unique, one-day event.

Why Attend the Converging Technologies Conference?

At CONTEX you will learn about…

1

Learn about technology platforms that are converging and creating new ecosystems at exponential speeds

2

Learn how these new ecosystems are driving business disruptions and transformations

3

Learn how these disruptions and transformations are impacting your industry today

Event Details

Who Should Attend?

From C-suite executives to students, the Converging Technologies Conference is ideal for those interested in learning from CEOs, directors, and other distinguished professionals on how to lead and participate in shaping the Exponential Era.

October 7, 2021 8:00 AM–6:00 PM CDT

University of St. Thomas, Opus College of Business, Schulze Hall 46 South 11th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55403

This is a hybrid event that you can attend either in person or online. Please note that you do not have to attend the entire event. The conference will be recorded and available to all ticket holders. For in person attendees, University of St. Thomas protocols require mask wearing in all public spaces.

Technology Platforms = New Ecosystems

Learn more by clicking on the circles below.

AI

AI

AI is already entrenched in our everyday lives and is increasingly shaping much of what we do. AI is transforming industries like finance, insurance, retail, entertainment, healthcare, and more. In the last decade, we have seen the emergence of a new kind of company, one that is architected from the beginning to work in a digital operating model, leveraging networks, large amounts of data, and AI algorithms. This new digital operating model is adept at functioning at greater scale, scope, and with capabilities that can overwhelm traditional companies, resulting in a level of disruption that will challenge conventional managerial methods.

Networks and BlockChains

Networks and BlockChains

A vast infrastructure of fiberoptic cables, wireless towers, and satellites connect an estimated five billion people. The rest of the world’s population is expected to join the conversation in the next five years. 5G technologies promise to completely alter the connectivity landscape by offering much faster speeds. Blockchain is a distributed technology that runs on the network, allowing the effective authentication and securitization of transactions.

Biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is advancing our ability to eliminate diseases that until recently seemed uncurable. Biotechnology also promises the development of healthier foods that are more efficient to produce and are environmentally sustainable.

Quantum Computing

Quantum Computing

Quantum computing offers a new paradigm where instead of the classical binary state represented by a bit, a multistate qubit, achieved via “superposition” in frigid temperatures, provides an extraordinary level of computing power. Quantum computers could spur the development of breakthroughs in science, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, material science, and much more.

IoT

IoT

The Internet of Things, also known as IoT, refers to the billions of devices that are connected to the internet. They include sensors, which are any electronic devices that measure things like temperature, pressure, light, or any other physical quantity and transmit their information over the network. These sensors will be non-stop monitoring and sensing all facets of our environment, creating a global sensor matrix that will allow us to know almost anything, anytime, anywhere.

3D Printing

3D Printing

3D printing is a fabrication technique for building three-dimensional structures based on a digital characterization of objects. The fabrication is achieved by adding layers of material until the final object is created with a technique called additive manufacturing. 3D printing technology is disrupting supply chains, manufacturing, transportation, and warehouses.

Robotics

Robotics

Robots are increasingly becoming ingrained in all aspects of life. Factories across the globe use robots to manufacture all kinds of products, from automotive to electronics. They are also being used in warehouses to sort, pick, and stack units. Today, the use of robots is focused on repetitive jobs or those that are dangerous or dirty. Tomorrow, robots will be used in a much wider range of careers from surgery to everyday maintenance and customer service.

Material Science

Material Science

Materials are the raw ingredients that go into products. They are easily taken for granted because most people don’t have a good grasp of the intricate work that goes into creating the materials that are used in today’s products. Behind the scenes, material science has enabled the creation and affordability of the everyday items we consume today.

AR/VR

AR/VR

Virtual and augmented reality will impact many industries, from retail to advertising, education, and entertainment. Avatars will represent our online personas for work, play, shopping, sports, and much more. Companies that want to stay ahead of the curve should consider investing in AR and VR capabilities now.

Technology Adoption Rates & Ethics

Technology Adoption Rates and Ethics

Today, leaders must make decisions about adopting and deploying technologies whose impact and ramifications on their people, community, and planet are unforeseeable. Due to the complexity and high adoption rates of modern technologies, decision making has become fraught with overwhelming and interrelated challenges. In fact, the consequences of our technology decisions are no longer obvious. Examples are the unintended consequences and ethical impacts of our science and technology choices, from energy generation affecting climate change and the desire for low-cost mundane functionality creating oceans of plastic, to the unfettered communications exploding in tribalism enabling the weaponization of nearly all media. As the consequences of individual and organizational decisions accumulate, personal responsibility has also grown, and the demand for accountability is rapidly increasing. In the Exponential Era, we need to explore new ethics able to intercept our rapid adoption of converging technologies now and on the horizon.

John Zangardi

John Zangardi

President of Redhorse Corporation, Operating Advisor Crosspoint Capital, startup advisor, and board member for Qualys, Forcepoint, and Symetrica.  Former CIO at Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Navy (DON).  

John Zangardi is currently the President of Redhorse Corporation, Operating Advisor Crosspoint Capital,startup advisor, and board member for Qualys, Forcepoint, and Symetrica.  He is the former CIO at Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Navy (DON).

Tarek Tomes

Tarek Tomes

Commissioner of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) and the State of Minnesota’s Chief Information Officer (CIO)    

Tarek Tomes serves as the Commissioner of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) and the State of Minnesota’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), leading state efforts to provide the best possible IT solutions and customer service to the people of Minnesota and our business partners. As a recognized industry leader, Tomes brings over 25 years of experience in managing technology innovation across diverse industries, both in national, international, and public and private sector operations. Throughout his career, he has facilitated data-driven decision making, implemented many critical enterprise projects, and improved workforce diversity and inclusion.

Tom Fisher

Tom Fisher

Director of the Minnesota Design Center, Director of MSMD Dayton Hudson Chair in Urban Design, University of Minnesota

Professor Fisher is recognized as the fifth most published writer about architecture in the United States. He has written 10 books, over 50 book chapters or introductions, and over 400 articles in professional journals and major publications about architectural design, practice, and ethics. In his work, Tom has explored how design errors occur in myriad parts of modern life and in aspects of our society and economy that have gone largely unrecognized while posing an enormous threat to our future. Most recently, he has explored the role that exponential growth plays in fracture-critical design.

Jim Hovland

Jim Hovland

Mayor of Edina, Founding Member of the Board, the Global Wellness Consortium & Global Wellness Connections (501c3)

James (Jim) Hovland is the current Mayor of Edina and has been since 2005. He holds a variety of other titles such as Co-Chair for the Regional Council of Mayors, Chairman on the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) to the Met Council, Member of the SW LRT Corridor Management Committee, Vice Chair of the SW LRT Community Works Steering Committee, and several others. Not only is Jim the Mayor of Edina, but he is also an attorney at Hovland & Rasmus, PLLC, where he brings over four decades of legal experience. Jim is also involved in non-profits such as the Edina Community Foundation and the Edina Morningside Rotary Club.

Chuck Michael

Chuck Michael

North American Feasibility & Lead Regulatory Advisor, HyperloopTT

Chuck Michael is a chief policy and technology leader and serves as Head of Feasibility Studies and Regulatory Affairs for Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc., based in Los Angeles. Chuck has prepared HyperloopTT design and engineering studies throughout North and South America, Europe and the Middle East introducing the first new mode of transportation in over a century.

Gopal Khanna

Gopal Khanna

Board Member, Advisor, Former Director of AHRQ (Agency for Health Research and Qualty, Department of Health and Human Services), and first CIO of MN

Gopal has championed AHRQ’s Digital Healthcare Research Program to produce and disseminate evidence about how the evolving digital healthcare ecosystem can advance the quality, safety, and effectiveness of healthcare for patients and their families. He has worked for two presidents and two governors in senior policy and leadership positions. Gopal has led enterprise transformation initiatives in federal and state governments, as well as in the private sector. He was a member of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s cabinet and the state’s first chief information officer.

Uma Natarajan

Uma Natarajan

Head of Presales & Customer Success, Public Sector, UiPath

Sangeetha (Uma) Natarajan provides strategic leadership to the Public Sector Presales & customer success teams across the civilian, DOD, SLED and Higher education markets.  Her team at UiPath work with agencies to accelerate the adoption of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI across the U.S. government. She has over 20 years of experience in building technology and implementation strategy across the enterprise. She has worked at multiple organizations building AI technologies prior to joining UiPath.  Ms. Natarajan has worked globally in Europe and Asia building Technology development teams for Monster.  She has also held several leadership roles in Technology companies dedicated to the public sector. Ms. Natarajan is passionate about giving back and actively supports STEM education for girls in the Loudoun County area.

Rick-Harrison

Rick Harrison

CEO, Rick Harrison Site Design, LLC

Rick is the creator of the patented LandMentor2020 System that blends precision virtual reality technology and advanced design education for the better growth of cities. He pioneered new methods for planners, architects, and engineers to design sustainable development with a fraction of the infrastructure required on past models. Rick is also changing the ecosystem for conducting public meetings and how cities regulate. He has designed over 1,300 neighborhoods in 47 states and 18 countries with measurable economic, social, and ecological benefits.

Edmond Lonergan

Edmond Lonergan

CEO, The Green Planet Group, LLC

Edmond Lonergan has been an entrepreneur, inventor, and business leader for the last 50+ years. He and his teams have developed technologies in the retail systems business, hospital operating room and patient care systems, electronic voting systems, greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies, high-speed organic growing systems, and methods to improve damaged ecosystems. Mr. Lonergan has spent the last 11 years developing an organic growing system which is a combination of good farming practices coupled with high-tech computer technologies. The result is a growing system that uses 97% less water, grows food three times faster, is 100% organic and produces food daily. The food produced can be programmed to meet the food demand (Food on Demand™) – and the system can be located where it’s needed (Food at Point of Consumption™).

Pablo Calabuig

Pablo Calabuig

CEO, North America, GoAigua, Inc.

Pablo is the CEO of GoAigua Inc, the US subsidiary of the Spain-based Global Omnium that is transforming utilities into smarter, more proactive, and more resilient entities through digital transformation. He graduated in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Valencia and U.C. Berkeley. After working in Valencia City’s Water System, he earned his MBA from The Wharton School. He then worked for the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company for five years, where he helped organizations in their digital transformation, IoT, and telecommunications across the US and Latin America.

Chad Seidel

Chad Seidel

President at Corona Environmental Consulting, LLC

Chad has focused his entire career connecting technical and policy issues within the water community at Federal, state, and local levels. Dr. Seidel is President of Corona Environmental Consulting, LLC where he brings his more than 20 years of consulting experience serving the drinking water community. He is also adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Environmental Engineering department where he has overseen EPA-funded research by graduate students regarding building water quality concerns and small water utility challenges. Chad is a registered Professional Engineer in several states.  He holds a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Montana Tech and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder.

James Bachman

James Bachman

CEO, LiberoHealth, Inc.

James (Jim) Bachman is the CEO of Libero Health and Founder and Managing Partner at 12G Advisory, a boutique advisory firm dedicated to creating value for small to middle market healthcare companies. Prior to founding 12G, Mr. Bachman was the CEO of Arizona Centers for Digestive Health (AZCDH), the largest end-to-end gastroenterology provider in Arizona until its sale to Covenant Surgical Partners, a KKR portfolio company, in 2019. Prior to starting AZCDH in 2017, Mr. Bachman was the President of SynerZ Medical (SynerZ), a start-up medical device company focused on the treatment of obesity and type II diabetes from its inception in 2013 until its subsequent sale to W.L. Gore & Associates in 2016. During this time, Mr. Bachman also served as a Director at BioGenerator, an evergreen investor that creates, grows and invests in promising healthcare companies and entrepreneurs in the St. Louis region. Mr. Bachman began his career in healthcare as an Investment Banker at Barclays Capital and Piper Jaffray in New York, completing over $6.5bn in deal value. Mr. Bachman received a BA in Biology from Saint Louis University and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Liz Diedrich

Liz Diedrich

CEO, DRPM

Liz has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and business leader. She is converging neural networks with individual company data sets, social media, and the internet while developing unique capabilities toward understanding and predicting client customer behaviors. Her team has conducted quantitative studies in more than 1,000 geographic markets targeting more than four million consumers and business decision-makers.

Patrick McKinney

Patrick McKinney

CEO, PKT

Patrick is converging automated data capture and a unique cloud-based management system that is disrupting client management in law enforcement, corrections, the court system, and treatment. The unique combination is improving efficiencies in cost, time, and outcomes, and changing probation and law enforcement ecosystems. Patrick is a well-established technology executive who has bridged operations, sales, and marketing. He has introduced game-changing technologies for global robotics, semiconductor, and manufacturing industries from early-stage to large market cap companies.

David Espindola

David Espindola

Co-founder & Partner, Intercepting Horizons, LLC

David Espindola is a Digital Technology Entrepreneur, Strategist and Advisor. He is a Founding Partner of Intercepting Horizons, a strategic advisory services firm that prepares clients to intercept strategic trends and converging technology vectors impacting their organization’s future. David also serves as a member of the Advisory Board at the University of Minnesota’s Technological Leadership Institute (TLI).

Ron Peterson

Ron Peterson

CEO, Peterson Technical/Business Strategies, Inc. Former Vice President of Technology Honeywell

Ron Peterson, CEO, Peterson Technical/Business Strategies, Inc. Former Vice President of Technology Honeywell

Grant Riewe

Grant Riewe

Executive Adviser, Professor St. Thomas

Grant Riewe is an Associate Partner and Senior Digital Expert at McKinsey & Co based in Minneapolis. He advises clients across all sectors with special affinity for consumer and retail. Grant primarily serves in North America and Europe, with a focus on organizations looking for step-changes in customer experience and engagement. His expertise is in emerging cognitive applications and broad transformational technologies. Grant is a leader in the automation and customer care practices, and serves as an advisor on organizational, procedural, and technical architecture topics.

Jeremy Lenz

Jeremy Lenz

Conference Moderator, Technology and Innovation Adoption Consultant

Jeremy is a technology and innovation adoption consultant, who helps water industry clients design and implement enterprise-wide disruptive data-driven digital water solutions. His client portfolio includes public companies, large industrial manufacturers, engineering companies, NGOs, early-stage companies, and government entities. He earned his B.S. and MBA from the University of Minnesota and has over 25 years of experience in business strategy, executive management, new venture creation, and business incubation.

Michael Wright

Michael Wright

Conference Chairman, Co-founder & Partner, Intercepting Horizons, LLC

Michael is an experienced global senior high technology executive and strategist at scale. In that role, he has had the opportunity to pervade most industries and most cultures of the developed world. He is a successful entrepreneur, has raised millions for startups and publicly traded entities, and has been entrusted with the assets of nascent to large-cap technology companies. He has also lived C-suite management responsibilities from venture capital to public ownership and championed product and process development, along with growing intangible assets. Michael has worked at the intersection of business, government, and academia in multiple regions, from DARPA/SEMATECH to ITRI and Fraunhofer. He taught strategic leadership at Carlson, How to Successfully Manage New Product Introductions for SEMI, and delivered keynote speeches at multiple industrial, academic, and business venues. He has worked with and led successful startups, including his own (WWK.com) and others including August and Rudolph Technologies (AUGT/RTEC), along with the formation and IPO of Entegris, Inc. (ENTG). He has patents in micro-fluidics, written over 40 articles on technology and business, and is the author of the acclaimed The New Business Normal and the recently released The Exponential Era, published by Wiley. Currently, he is Chairman of the Converging Technologies Conference.

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