Superhumans and Global Thought Leaders Announced for Hybrid World Adelaide Industry Conference

Adelaide, July 4, 2017 – Global leaders in biotechnology, space engineering and brain-computer interfaces will lead the Hybrid World Adelaide (HWA) industry conference that will be held on October 4 and 5 – the opening two days of the event at Tonsley Innovation Precinct.

Futurist and bio-hacker Andrew Hessel, cybersecurity expert Mandy Simpson, DARPA Alumni Phillip Alvelda, along with space engineer Flavia Tata Nardini and agri-digital expert Emma Weston will join LA-based digital pioneer Robert Tercek, speaking on topics across four ‘digital’ conference themes: augmentation, substitution, infusion and transformation.

What comes after the smartphone? How can digital technology extend human senses and capabilities? How do we protect ourselves in the cyber world?

These are the questions that will be tackled by industry experts at the inaugural HWA Conference this October. The Conference will be held at the TAFE SA building at Tonsley. TAFE SA is a Major Partner of Hybrid World Adelaide.

Robert Tercek, creative director of HWA industry events, has unveiled the international cohort of presenters who will delve into the hotbed issues business and industries are grappling with as advanced technologies take over.

“There’s a massive change happening right in front of us,” said Robert Tercek, author of the award-winning Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World.

“Digital technology has begun to infuse the world around us, and this process is going to reinvent the way the whole world works.

“The speakers we’ve invited to Hybrid World Adelaide will bring together revolutionary leaders to discuss cutting edge ideas and opportunities that will shape the future of South Australia, and the world.”

Robert Tercek has been called a technological provocateur, offering engaging analysis of the future and a practical blueprint for success that no business leader, from the Fortune 500 CEO to the small startup owner, can afford to ignore.

The public program for Hybrid World Adelaide (October 4-8), announced from July, will transform Adelaide into a digital playground offering immersive, hands-on experiences for all ages.

For more information and to purchase tickets for the industry event visit hybridworldadelaide.org. Early bird prices are available for the first 50 delegates.

NOTES TO EDITOR

Conference Themes:

Digital Augmentation – becoming superhuman
Augmentation is about the ability to do more with digital technology; digital technology that adds new capability to innate human skill; digital extensions of human senses and human power; digital mechanical hybrids that can do things biological humans cannot.

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmentation of Human Mental Capabilities, Direct Neural Implants to the Human Brain, What Comes After the Smartphone

Digital Infusion – authoring our evolution
Embedding digital technology into the physical things and spaces around us, and examining how the addition of digital technology can redefine established real-world discipline. The 2017 program focuses on how biology is evolving from a wet science to a computational science via genomics, genetic engineering, CRISPR-Cas9, wide-area sensor arrays, big data and data analytics.

Topics: Bio-hacking, Programmable Biology, Biology as Technology, Digital Technology in Agriculture, Big Data in Agriculture

Digital Substitution – the world in your pocket
Substitution is about replacing physical things with software. There are digital substitutes for more than two million things already – the physical is being ‘vapourised’ into software. This good and bad – it creates destruction that leads to reinvention.

Topics: The App Economy, Software Automation, Technological Unemployment, Cybersecurity, Digital Currency, Blockchain Apps, Blockchain in Industrial IoT

Digital Transformation – the future
Reinventing business; how digital technology creates an opportunity to reimagine an existing industry and redirect it along a new trajectory. The 2017 program focuses on how digital technology is reshaping media, storytelling, games and shared experiences.

Topics: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Innovative User Interfaces, Digitally Mediated Storytelling

SPEAKER BIOS

Andrew Hessel
Andrew Hessel is a futurist and catalyst in biological technologies, helping industry, academics, and authorities better understand the rapid changes happening in life science. He is a Distinguished Re-searcher with Autodesk Inc. in its SF-based Life Sciences group, which is creating software tools for molecular and living systems. He is also the co-founder of Humane Genomics, which is developing virus-based therapies for cancer, starting with dogs. Andrew is a fellow at the University of Ottawa, Institute for Science, Society, and Policy and faculty at Singularity University.

Flavia Tata Nardini
Space engineer Flavia Tata Nardini began her career at the European Space Agency before joining TNO to apply her technical knowledge to advanced space propulsion engineering projects.

In 2015, she co-founded Fleet to solve the issue facing businesses globally over the next decade: how to connect the more than 75 billion connected devices expected to come online over the next decade, simply and cheaply.

Fleet will launch the first of more than 100 planned nanosatellites in 2018, creating a global, free connectivity network that will plug directly into the millions of digital sensors already beginning to transform industries like agriculture, logistics, and mining and gas.

Dr Phillip Alvelda
A technologist, entrepreneur, and educator, Dr Phillip Alvelda has worked for DARPA – the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the US, and was the founding CEO of MobiTV, the world’s leading provider of live TV, VoD, and music over mobile networks.

He has an Emmy Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures, was selected by Fast Company as the 15th most influential high-tech entrepreneur in the US, and holds more than 30 patents and patents-pending on a wide range of technologies. At DARPA, Phillip developed national innovation programs to create next-generation brain-computer interfaces connecting electronics directly to neurons.

He has also developed spacecraft hardware and software systems and new computing architectures at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he designed and built sensors that flew on the Space Shuttle, as well as the Galileo and Magellan interplanetary spacecraft.

Phillip is the founding Chairman of the Westminster Institute for Science Education which helps schools extend STEM education with an emphasis on technical design, creativity, and innovation.

Mandy Simpson
Mandy Simpson is Chief Executive at Wellington-based cybersecurity consultancy Cyber Toa. She joined in November 2016 from NZX, where she was Chief Operating Officer and an advocate for the development of blockchain technology for financial markets. She was also Chief Financial Officer for technology company Fronde, and has worked in financial investigation and surveillance roles for Deloitte and the London Stock Exchange in the UK. As a Singularity University faculty member she helps support organisations to understand, adapt and thrive in an exponentially changing world. Mandy sits on the boards of Punakaiki Fund and NZTech, is an active investor in early stage companies and an advisory board member at BraveNewCoin, a Queenstown based company providing digital currency news and insights.

Emma Weston
As co-founder and CEO at AgriDigital, Emma Weston leads all aspects of the business strategy, stake-holder engagement, blockchain and talent management with oversight of the sales, broader technology and operational environments. AgriDigital (formerly Full Profile) was founded in 2015 and is based out of Sydney, Australia. In October 2016, AgriDigital launched its agri-commodity management platform for farmers, buyers and site operators. In December 2016, the company successfully completed the first-ever settlement of a physical agri-commodity on a blockchain between a farmer and a buyer. Emma’s diverse career as a lawyer, agribusiness executive, start-up mentor and executive coach adds a wealth of strategic and operational experience to the AgriDigital team.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday 7 April 2017

Cutting-edge digital technology will take centre stage at South Australia’s newest annual event, launched by Premier Jay Weatherill today.

Hybrid World Adelaide will have a hub at the Tonsley Innovation Precinct in Adelaide’s southern suburbs for five days from October 4.

It will showcase digital music, film, drones, group gaming classes, ‘how to’ classes, a trade show and development lab, attracting some of the brightest global minds and the next generation of tech pioneers.

Another addition to South Australia’s growing October events calendar, Hybrid World Adelaide aims to foster new ideas and attract new business to South Australia.

Background

The State Government, through Events South Australia, is the founding and principal partner of Hybrid World Adelaide. The Adelaide Film Festival will manage and deliver the event, with strong links between the two, particularly in the area of screen technology.

The creative directors are leading Los Angeles-based digital pioneer Robert Tercek and Janet Gaeta, who created and ran the popular ABC gaming program Good Game.

They will curate ticketed and free events for both industry experts and the wider public – including a conference and a trade show where visitors can see and try the latest products before they are on the market.

Hybrid World Adelaide will utilise the ultra-fast internet provided through Adelaide’s participation in the Gig City initiative.

The event’s hashtag is #hybridworldadl and for more information go to hybridworldadelaide.org. Early bird registrations for the industry conference are now open.

Quotes attributable to Premier Jay Weatherill

We want to open the door to new ideas, new people and new businesses and Hybrid World Adelaide is about us making the most of the ever-changing digital landscape which constantly offers new opportunities.

We are reinventing ourselves from primary to advanced manufacturing, a transition which will create jobs and boost our global reputation – and this event will play an important role in this process.

October is fast becoming a month showcasing local and international innovation and creativity and along with Hybrid World Adelaide we can look forward to the OzAsia Festival, Open State, Tarnanthi, Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, Ferment the Festival and Adelaide Fashion Festival.

Quotes attributable to Adelaide Film Festival Chairman Sandra Sdraulig

It is an honour for the Adelaide Film Festival to present Hybrid World, South Australia’s newest and most innovative offering that will celebrate screens and technology and do so alongside our internationally renowned film festival. They are a magnificent complement.

We welcome the creative directors to Adelaide and look forward to supporting them to realise their extraordinary vision for Hybrid World Adelaide.

We also acknowledge the support of the State Government and particularly the Premier’s leadership in championing this digital celebration.

Quotes attributable to Hybrid World Adelaide Creative Director Robert Tercek

There’s a massive change happening right in front of us. Digital technology has begun to infuse the world around us, and this process is going to reinvent the way the whole world works.

When digital technology is no longer confined to a computer or smartphone, but instead embedded in every device around us, what happens is magical. Smart connected devices wake up and begin to talk to us, and to each other.

They share valuable data about what is happening around them, how they are being used, and how they might be used more efficiently. As a result, we’ll soon be in a position to reimagine and reinvent all of the appliances, gadgets, gizmos, machines, vehicles, lights, roadways, factories, warehouses, retail shopping centres and stores, government facilities and schools.

Quotes attributable to Hybrid World Adelaide Creative Director Janet Gaeta

There’s something for absolutely everybody at Hybrid World Adelaide, whether you are a digital native completely at home in the virtual world or curious to see how technology is impacting your life and the world around you.

Humankind with our ingenuity, optimism and hard work has brought us to the point where we are able to manipulate ourselves and our environment almost to our will thanks to digital technology.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR BIOS

Mr Robert Tercek is a digital pioneer and one of the world’s most prolific creators of interactive content. He has created breakthrough entertainment experiences on every digital platform, including satellite television, game consoles, broadband Internet, interactive television and mobile networks. His expertise spans television, telecommunications and software. The author of Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World, Robert is a sought after creative strategist, speaker and innovation expert. Digital Media Wire named him one of ‘25 Executives to Watch’ in 2009, and Variety dubbed him one of the ‘Digital Dozen’ most influential players in new media. Los Angeles-based Robert will lead presentation of the industry events at Hybrid World Adelaide in October.

Ms Janet Gaeta (nee Carr) has been instrumental in bringing the understanding of the interactive world into homes of countless Australians. She created and ran ABC TV’s program dedicated to video games, Good Game, for more than a decade. In that time the show grew to include a program for younger gamers, Spawn Point, and the daily program Good Game Pocket.

Good Game received many awards including ITunes Podcast of the Year and the IT Journalism Award for Best Video Program in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Janet has hosted and appeared a variety of technology-related events including EB Games Expo, Pax Australia and Remix.

In 2016, Janet was the first female recipient of the Pacific Pillar of the Industry award at the MCV Pacific Awards recognizing her enormous contribution to the video gams industry. Janet understands and is passionate about the interactive world, and about building and engaging audiences. She will lead presentation of the public program for Hybrid World Adelaide.

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