Tech Titans

Featuring Ed Kelly, Chief Data Officer for State of Texas and Laila Alequresh, Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Dallas - February 2, 2021

Robert David Atkinson is an economist and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., that promotes policies based on innovation economics. 
Rob presented to the Tech Titans board of directors in late January 2021. Rob spoke about privacy concerns, artificial intelligence (and minority biases), and what it means when it says that President Biden signed executive orders. Note that the beginning of the presentation was not recorded. 

President Bill Sproull serves as the chair of the Texas governor's Broadband Development Council, which evaluated and made recommendations to the governor about how vital broadband is to the future of Texas. Thanks to Connected Nation for producing the podcast.

Read the full report here:
https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/2020_Texas_Report_-_Governors_Broadband_Development_Council.pdf 

Though things are still in flux, Bill gives an update about what to expect in the short term and what the implications are for North Texas

James Klein is president of infrastructure and defense products at Qorvo and Tech Titans Corporate CEO award winner in 2019. Interviewed by Tech Titans’ President/CEO Bill Sproull, James talks about his background, Qorvo’s history, how Qorvo managed to keep their plants healthy even in China and the need to support STEM and diversity efforts. Part of the discussion focuses on the importance of culture, leadership and the trust of the team. 

UT Dallas has an enrollment of 30,000 (and ranked as one of the fastest growing in the country). As the CEO of a staff of over 3600, Dr. Richard Benson is working with budgets and analyzing customer trends and threats for delivery (ie, steering his institution through covid and meeting international student needs).

Tech Titans' President Bill Sproull talks to Dr. Benson about the future of the school (think resiliency and optimism) and how diversity is built into its DNA.

Yobie is a world class innovator who is an active member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network and received their 2015 Technology Pioneer award. Benjamin was winner of a 2014 CNN Top 10 Technology Products award in augmented reality. He was the Global Chief Technology Officer for Citibank where he was was responsible for global money flows of $3 trillion to $9 trillion per day. He is also co-founder, advisor to several startups in the technology and synthetic biology space. 
Yobie talks about some of his past work and current solutions about cleaning the air of the coronavirus. 

High-energy Calvin Carter has opinions about how to lead an organization. The latest action is allowing employees to work from anywhere, on top of their self-managed vacation plan. Calvin talks about connecting employees to a purpose, how an entrepreneur/leader needs empathy, and how coronavirus accelerated adoption of trends by 3-5 years.

Amy Wheelus acts as the CIO of AT&T’s broadband and video business. During the podcast, Amy talks about how AT&T plans for disasters, what she thinks the new normal will be after coronavirus and what innovation looks like. Amy also discusses her background and how that influences her ability to lead in a diverse but results-oriented environment. 3

Important blockchain developments affecting traditional banking have been occurring outside of public view. This Tech Titans Forum will discuss how blockchain is being used to send payments globally and to streamline interbank processes for syndicated loans. We'll also learn about central bank currencies and the integration of digital currencies into traditional payment systems.
Panelists:
JC Jollant, senior product manager, Finastra
Richard Meszaros, Managing Director IoT, Accenture
Eric Smith, founder/CEO, App Brilliance, Inc.
https://business.techtitans.org/events/details/blockchain-forum-sept-24-4535