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Welcome to the SIMCAC Weekly Newsletter....
....Where each week, we'll share SIMCAC announcements, member spotlights, local/national industry news, upcoming events, and recaps of past ones!
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SIMCAC STEM Sponsorship Dividend
On Thursday, March 28, Joe Malfesi, our Outreach Chair, attended FIRST Global’s (https://first.global/) Global Innovation Reception held at the U.S Capitol Visitor’s Center.
Team USA 2018 was the featured Robotics team and, if you recall, SIMCAC sponsored Wizards.exe from Rockville, MD, who represented the U.S. in Mexico City in last year’ FIRST Global competition and won! We were so proud to have helped these amazing middle and high schools students whose enthusiasm fills a room.
The event began with House Majority Leader Steny Hotel (D-MD) welcoming everyone and setting the tone for what most speakers would say throughout the day: FIRST Global has created an environment where children from around the globe, despite differences in culture, language and religion, can work together on a common project and learn from each other.
Rep. Hotel then introduced Dean Kamen. Mr. Kamen is an American engineer, inventor, and businessman. He is known for his invention of the Segway, as well as founding FIRST. Mr. Kamen proudly talked about the growth of FIRST Global. In this, their third year, there will be more countries represented in this year’s competition (190) than in the Olympics. He also pointed out that “This is the only sport in the world where every competitor will become a professional.”
Mr. Kamen will also be the speaker at SIM ConnectLive in Orlando at the SIM Foundation V.I.P. Networking Reception on Wednesday, 5/15.
This year’s global competition will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Speaking about the appreciation for choosing Dubai was His Excellency, Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. Also present was the UAE Ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al Otaiba.
Mr. Kamen has also called upon other members of Congress and Cabinet executives to support FIRST Global and many were present to speak briefly including:
- Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Marie Royce
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
- U.S. Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry
- Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
SIMCAC is proud to see the dividends of our investment in STEM.
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On Thursday, March 14th, current and prospective SIMCAC members convened to learn how technologies like AI and IOT are transforming our communities. Mike Cannon, the CTO of Stafford County who is leading an effort to build a Smart Downtown Stafford, and David Ihrie, the CTO of the Center for Innovative Technologies, led the discussion, sharing their knowledge and experiences with an engaged group. According to Mike Cannon, Smart Communities is expected to be a 2 billion dollar industry by the year 2020, including:
- IOT sensors in roads, buildings, and open spaces
- Ubiquitous wireless broadband
- Lanes and related infrastructure to support autonomous vehicles
- Real-time data collection, aggregation, and analysis
- Public security sensors
Municipalities are heavily investing in these areas with a goal of spurring economic development, improving the connectedness of their citizens, attracting residents, reducing traffic, cutting energy consumption, and improving safety. To put it simply, smart community investments are about improving citizen quality of life. Mike also offered some insights around building the infrastructure required and on implementing some of the key technologies, including an example of a technology that helps citizens quickly locate automated defibrillators. David Ihre started his presentation by sharing that the world’s population is rapidly moving from rural to urban areas, at a rate of 3 million per week globally. In fact, 70% of the world’s population will be located in urban areas within his lifetime, making it “the largest displacement in the history of humankind”. At that rate, the world will need to create the equivalent of one New York City every month to keep up. David spent some time discussing what Smart Communities mean to Virginia specifically, given our lack of mega-cities and our governor’s desire to have a smart community strategy that’s “about every person in the Commonwealth”. David also shared examples of smart cities that didn’t live up to the hype and led a great discussion around lessons we can learn from those examples, including a simple rule: “Community first, Smart second”. If you’re looking for additional information on the topic, Mike’s and David’s full presentations are available to current SIMCAC members through the Capital Area Member Forum Community on our website ( www.simcac.org). Mike also directed attendees to review an ICMA article he published last year, which is publicly available here: https://icma.org/articles/pm-magazine/pm-article-smart-city-infrastructure. |
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As companies strive to better meet the needs and expectations of its customers, CIOs and technology executives play a critical role in identifying how advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, Big Data, analytics, the Internet of Things, blockchain and cloud computing can be leveraged to enhance the customer experience, craft customer-focused business models and gain a competitive edge.
The innovative mindset and courageous leadership required to partner with the C-suite and board of directors to transform the business will be the focal point of the 2019 Washington, D.C CIO Executive Leadership Summit.
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May SIMCAC Event, "The Human CIO in the Digital Age"
14th May - 5:30-8:00 PM - City Club, Washington, DC
Without question, the fast-and-furious change we are all experiencing in this digital age is an order of mega-ton magnitude. But whether you find this frenetic, fast-moving environment to be thrilling or overwhelming (or both!), you can’t ignore it: The stakes are far too high, and the revenue potential too great. Incremental innovation and slow adoption are no longer sufficient. You need to leapfrog or you’ll get left behind.
And leapfrogging means acknowledging that the twin forces of human resources and technology are both fundamental to sustainable success. No matter how you look at a business problem, tech and talent are part of the solution. Nobody in tech is not-talking about talent, and nobody in talent is not-talking about tech.
Talent wars for data scientists, developers, and other IT roles are real and those companies who don't have boundless pools of money need to compete in other ways to stay in the game. We're all going back to "tech school" but if we get lost in cutting edge technology alone, we'll find we've sliced ourselves wide open. The ultimate goal for any company and leader shouldn't be "having the latest tech," it needs to be: staying relevant!
Relevance for your team: Good talent wants to feel empowered, appreciated and respected. Good people, regardless of organizational level, want to make a difference, have an impact and MATTER. They want to grow and learn because that's what engages your employees in their work.
Relevant to your customers: They buy in, they feel connected and engaged when their online experiences and their human interactions are met with passion and efficiency. In a commoditized tech world, it's the human quotient that will create loyalty to the point where your products and services become enmeshed in their lives.
Relevance to the market: Whether you’re a thought leader in the market where the industry turns to you for what’s next or you're a steady player with consistent growth, the playing field is even right now because none of us have been here before. You as the Human CIO need to lead the way forward and doing so, you will have a dominant position in shaping where your industry goes next.
Kristen will share ideas, strategies, and how-to's for every leader to become an effective Human CIO in the Digital Age. There isn't one way to accomplish this goal, and her real-world examples and stories will help you to adapt and develop a pragmatic strategy forward versus pie-in-the-sky platitudes.
Our Speaker: Kristen Lameraeux, President & CEO of Lamoreaux Search
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Have You Registered for #SIMConnectLive19? Will we see you in Orlando in May? This year’s event includes fewer tracks and more leadership sessions. This is the event to enhance your leadership competencies — come ready to grow and position yourself for amazing opportunities. Check out the program and sign up today.
Prices increase on April 1. Don't miss out! Don't miss out! Reserve your spot with hundreds of other IT leaders from around the country!
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| Attention SIMCAC members! Since our members are the lifeblood of this great chapter, the success of this newsletter depends on our ability to share the happenings within it! So we're going to ask for your help in making this newsletter the best it can be. If you or fellow SIMCAC members have announcements, articles, pictures, videos, or any other content you'd like to share (and please do!), email to jamesparks@simcac.org |
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