Conference News: What I learned this week – January 25, 2019
AI comes to DC: The organizers of AI World have announced their newest conference, AI World Government, which will run 24 – 26 June in Washington D.C. The event was developed to “educate and inform public sector agencies and its supply chain on the many benefits of deploying AI technologies.” The conference organizers hope that the programme will also shape the conversation around ethics, safety and regulatory requirements for machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, image and pattern recognition, and emerging intelligent automation solutions. Attendance will be between 800 – 1200 and made up of federal, state, and local government technology decision makers as well as members of the growing AI ecosystem. For more information on the conference or to suggest a speaker/topic click here.
Out of this World: Last week, Amazon announced they would add another new event to their conference line up. In addition to re:Invent and re:Inforce, the company will host re:MARS (Machine learning, Automation, Robotics and Space) on 4 – 7 June 2019 in Las Vegas. Since 2016, Jeff Bezos has invited a few notable scientists, engineers and academics to a private gathering to explore the future applications of ML, automation, robotics and space, but this is the first time the company will host a public conference focused on these four areas. According to the organizers, they are not planning to open a formal call for presenters (CFP). Speakers for the event so far seem to be drawn mostly from the academic world, and include Ken Goldberg from UC Berkeley, and Kate Darling, a robot-human interaction expert from MIT. Registration won’t open until March but you can learn more on the event website now.
Speaking Opportunity: In time for the new year, the producers of Serious Play have finalized dates for both annual conferences, and 2019 brings a change in one of the venues. First, Serious Play returns to Montreal from 10-12 July and is hosted by the University of Quebec. A week later, the event heads south to the University of Central Florida in Orlando (18-20 July), where organizers promise an exceptionally strong program, given the state’s Florida advanced status in game-based learning programs. There is still time to propose speakers, but don’t wait – submissions are accepted until 15 February.
Lunchtime Learning: Unless you were living under a rock or completely off the grid the first week of January, you probably read numerous updates coming out of Vegas from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). While you undoubtedly heard news from the massive event, you may not have had the opportunity to watch any of the keynotes or Super Sessions – even if you were in Vegas. Check out the video archive to hear IBM president and CEO, Ginni Rometty, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg and LG Electronics President and Chief Technology Officer I.P. Park share what they believe the future will bring.
Coming Up Next Week: Teachers, administrators, and education innovators make a date at Future Educational Technology Conference (FETC) in Orlando. In its 39th year, FETC offers the technology-driven education community tools and ideas to transform learning in and out of the classroom. ITEXPO joins co-located programs on AI, blockchain, the future of work, open source, and more when it celebrates 20 years, starting 28 January in Ft. Lauderdale. The entertainment crowd has several alternatives to Sundance this week, between the “who’s who” content creator and buyer lineup at Realscreen (28-31 January; New Orleans) and the exclusive, invite-only Upfront Summit (30-31 January, Malibu). And in Tel Aviv, CyberTech (28-30 January) anticipates a crowd of 15,000 B2B attendees looking to learn from senior security officers hailing from companies like IBM, Dell EMC, Symantec, Microsoft, and Google.