Transformers | May 18, 2016 @ The Washington Post
HIGHLIGHTS
AGENDA
8:30 a.m. | REGISTRATION
9:00 a.m. | WELCOME
-Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., Publisher, The Washington Post
SPONSOR REMARKS
-Shankar Chandran, Vice President, Samsung Electronics; Head of the Samsung Catalyst Fund
IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?
She founded Sirius XM, a religion and a biotech. Now we ask her: Has technology outrun humanity?
–Martine Rothblatt, Chairman, United Therapeutics Corporation
Interviewed by Neely Tucker, Staff Writer, The Washington Post
OUT OF YOUR MIND
Advances in neuroscience and augmented reality are allowing us to experience the world like never before.
–John Werner, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Meta
–Neil Harbisson, Cyborg Artist, Cyborg Foundation
–Sheila Nirenberg, Neuroscientist, Cornell Uiversity
Moderated by Lois Romano, Editor, Washington Post Live
NUMBERS TELL THE TRUTH
New tools are making meaning from data for critical national security issues.
–Arati Prabhakar, Director, DARPA
–Gary King, Professor and Director, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University
Moderated by Jeremy Gilbert, Director of Strategic Initiatives, The Washington Post
THE NEW CURRENCY OF GIVING
Meet the business leaders who are giving big and making an impact.
–David Rubenstein, Co-founder, The Carlyle Group
–Wendy Schmidt, President, The Schmidt Family Foundation
Moderated by Katie Couric, Global News Anchor, Yahoo
11:00 a.m. | BREAK
11:15 a.m. | THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE SPACE
Recent milestones in commercial crew space transport are opening up new frontiers for business and exploration.
–Administrator Charles Bolden, NASA
–George Whitesides, Chief Executive, Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company
–Julie Van Kleeck, Vice President of Advanced Space and Launch Business, Aerojet Rocketdyne
–Andy Weir, Science Fiction Writer
Moderated by Christian Davenport, Reporter, The Washington Post
THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE
Is DNA the cosmic tool or the universal messenger?
-Eric Schulze, Science Communicator
ASK US ANYTHING
Platforms are creating communities, building businesses and pushing boundaries.
–Steve Huffman, Co-founder and Chief Executive, Reddit
–Emmett Shear, Founder and Chief Executive, Twitch
Moderated by Caitlin Dewey, Digital Culture Critic, The Washington Post
12:30 p.m. | BREAK
2:00 p.m. | WELCOME BACK
-Lois Romano, Editor, Washington Post Live
FREE RADICAL: A CONVERSATION WITH CRAIG VENTER
The pioneering geneticist talks about genomics, synthetic biology and the future of medicine.
–J. Craig Venter, Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive, Human Longevity, Inc.
Interviewed by Alison Snyder, Senior Editorial Producer, The Washington Post
SPONSORED CONTENT | TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGY: INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
–Shankar Chandran, Vice President, Samsung Electronics;
Interviewed by Betsy Page Sigman, Professor of Operations and Information Management, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
ARE WE THERE YET?
A roboticist and a policy shaper draw a roadmap for autonomous vehicles.
–Helen Greiner, Founder and Chief Executive, CyPhy Works
–David Strickland, Counsel, Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets
Moderated by David Cho, Deputy Business Editor, The Washington Post
TECHSPLAIN IT TO ME
“The father of the Internet” explains how it works and what’s needed as billions more devices connect on Earth and beyond.
–Vinton G. Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
3:30 p.m. | BREAK
3:45 p.m. | EVERYDAY AI
It’s out of the lab and into your life.
–David Kenny, General Manager, IBM Watson
–Julia Ross, Dean, College of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Moderated by Brian Fung, Reporter, The Switch, The Washington Post
ROPORTER WINNERS ANNOUNCED
PRIME TIME: A CONVERSATION WITH JEFF BEZOS
Amazon’s chief executive and owner of The Washington Post talks about technology, space, the everything store and more.
–Jeff Bezos, Founder and Chief Executive, Amazon.com; Owner, The Washington Post; Founder, Blue Origin
Interviewed by Martin Baron, Executive Editor, The Washington Post
5:00 p.m. | Closing remarks
-Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., Publisher, The Washington Post
The event also featured a robotics competition for local high school students. Students had one day to build new tools that could gather information and help journalists challenge the boundaries of reporting stories. Jeff Bezos and Helen Greiner judged the competition. The winning team came from Wilson High School.