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LiveWorx pushing event model into storytelling festival

The manufacturing space might not be the first place one would think to look for extraordinary events. But once you meet LiveWorx, your view of B2B events is likely to change entirely. 

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Photo courtesy LiveWorx
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The manufacturing space might not be the first place one would think to look for extraordinary events. But once you meet LiveWorx, your view of B2B events is likely to change entirely. 

Hosted every June in Boston and attracting a crowd of technologists, engineers and manufacturing leaders, LiveWorx is transforming the traditional event model into a technology storytelling festival.

Keynotes have included the NFL’s CIO, the former CTO of the United States, and an AI expert who created a plant-robot hybrid (seriously). Show floor demos include a live augmented reality experience used to service farming equipment; the ability to leverage CAD designs in real-time to customize a yacht right before your eyes; and generating real-time IoT data from beer taps

Between demos and keynotes, the event peppers the experience with celebrity-hosted socials spanning the Boston seaport, including guest appearances by actor Paul Rudd and Game of Thrones stars Richard Madden (Robb Stark) and Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy).

To learn more about how LiveWorx is changing Boston’s event scene, DX Journal spoke with some of the team behind the curtain.

Photo courtesy LiveWorx

LiveWorx has lived its own digital transformation

LiveWorx was born inside PTC, a global software company that works in the industrial space helping manufacturers use technology to drive digital transformation. The event was initially launched (under a different name) for PTC software clients to come together and share best practices.

Over the last four years the event has changed entirely. 

LiveWorx moved into the Boston Convention Center in order to create space for exciting new programming, including main stage experiences with aerial acrobatics, a life-size transport truck and 3-level stage, dozens of technology demos and hundreds of breakout sessions from digital transformation leaders. 

Photo courtesy LiveWorx

And the shift in the event’s model and experience worked. LiveWorx grew from an average attendance of 1,500-1,800 people in 2015 to more than four times that number today.

One of the visionaries behind the transformation is Devin Cleary. A self-described “renaissance experiential marketer” and vice president of experiential marketing for PTC, Cleary spearheads the vision for LiveWorx with a team of nine.

Cleary’s broad range of career roles include work as senior director of resources for the American Red Cross and as an events experience strategist with sales and marketing software company Hubspot. This mix of wide, varied experience powers the core of LiveWorx’s interdisciplinary presentation. 

Devin Cleary

Devin Cleary, Vice President of Experiential Marketing for PTC. – Photo courtesy LiveWorx

At its core, LiveWorx stands out because of its team’s relentless focus on creating moments of surprise and delight that demonstrate a deep connection between humans and technology.

“I look in the most unfamiliar places for inspiration,” Cleary said in an interview with DX Journal. “We look at multiple inspiration facets, from fashion to pop culture, to science, to literature, to history, to futurism. We do everything from blogs to videos to interviews, to participating in things like a fashion week so that we can get a sense of how everything can fit together. We take major global trends and translate them into a business context.”

Photo courtesy LiveWorx

LiveWorx features a vital reimagination of the expo hall called Xtropolis that provides demonstrations of full production cycles and the technology powering the future of manufacturing — IIoT, blockchain, AR, VR, AI, 3D printing, spatial computing — and how they all work together within a living, breathing business setting. And with a 200,000 foot exhibition area and more than100 exhibitors, the event floor has become a storytelling festival.

Photo courtesy LiveWorx

The desire that we have to drive our company’s message into the marketplace is to communicate value,” said Eric Snow, senior vice president of corporate marketing at PTC, in an interview at LiveWorx. “I think we have sort of found a little bit of a secret sauce here, that if you combine education with entertainment and really delight people by using physical objects as a canvas to share digital stories, that can really be memorable and repeatable and shareable.”

A learning experience curated to impress

With so many technology events out there, it’s hard to stand out. But LiveWorx pushes a hands-on, multi-disciplinary approach to its technology tracks and featured displays that captivate its audience, boosting the attendee numbers each year. PTC even encourages competitors to attend in order to better amplify innovation and benefit the education of the thousands of attendees at LiveWorx.

Photo courtesy LiveWorx

“Over the last three or four years we’ve really transformed LiveWorx and sought to have the event transcend PTC,” said Snow. “We would like to have people come to this event who do business with PTC, or don’t do business with PTC, because we think there’s a tremendous amount of learning that the whole community can experience and share with each other.”

That learning is another key differentiator for the event.

“The benefit of going to LiveWorx is that you can accelerate your learning cycle and absorb and adopt a year’s worth of education in less than seven days,” said Cleary. “That is incredibly powerful. But don’t take my word for it, just look at the 7,000 individuals and technologists who are coming yearly and recognize the boutique quality of how we orchestrate and lay this out. We’re not just focused on the trends — we’re focused on everything to make sure no one is left behind.”

The journey of each attendee is intended to be intuitive and holistic said Cleary. The event team designs the program so that everyone — be it technologists or business leaders — can begin their LiveWorx experience by investigating a specific technology track. Those early explorations are then expanded upon through hands-on demonstrations and additional content that look to engage with the issues attendees are facing in their organizations.

The process is intended to be open-ended, said Cleary, so that the event delivers insights to everyone, no matter what their background is.

Driving tech events into the future

Cleary has big ideas for LiveWorx and where it goes next.

“I want to make sure that companies out there with other events that are comparable in size want to partner with us,” said Cleary. “We should come together to create the mother of all technology events that changes the way people interact, the way they network and the way they absorb content.”

The event is also pushing ahead with a diversity focus that other tech conferences should take note of, committing to 50 percent of presenters to come from diverse backgrounds inclusive of gender and race within the next three years. And that goal is already seeing results — 11 percent of attendees self-identified as women in 2018 and that number increased to 21 percent in 2019.

Cathy Hackl, a world renowned augmented reality, virtual reality and spatial computing futurist speaks at LiveWorx 2019. – Photo courtesy LiveWorx

Cleary noted that in its initial efforts to increase diversity and inclusion at the event, LiveWorx has provided same sex bathrooms and women’s mentorship workshops in order to empower the next generation of female leaders and technologists.

“This is a personal passion project of mine, and it’s something that I’m so grateful that the rest of the organization has fully embraced and will continue to embrace as we go onward,” he said. “This is an event that is truly setting a trend and leading the events industry, changing the way the industry works and operates.”

Pushing ahead with diversity goals is all part of the holistic, human event that Cleary and his team are working hard to build.

“For me, at the end of the day, it’s not just about the success of the event in terms of the numbers, the growth and the acceleration. It’s really about the ways we operate and cooperate, and the way that technology is allowing us to free up our time so we can focus on more creative and innovative tasks. The sky is really the limit.”

Adam Savage in Xtropolis. – Photo courtesy LiveWorx

So what’s next for LiveWorx?

The event has already started hosting smaller co-located events as part of the larger event offering and it will head further in that direction under the vision of “we are better together.”

The event will also look to expand outside its current home at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to create hubs around the city and include the entire tech ecosystem in a week-long innovation festival.

“The event we’re producing in 2019 will look minuscule compared to the event we’ll be orchestrating in 2021,” Cleary said.

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The Northern Lights Technology & Innovation Forum navigates AI, economic concerns and upskilling in Alberta

Panelists dive into how innovation and collaboration may help navigate the changing industry landscapes

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While rapid advancements in AI are reshaping industries worldwide, they’ve sparked discussions about innovation and community resilience through ongoing economic challenges. At this year’s Northern Lights Technology and Innovation Forum, panelists explored how technology could drive positive adaptation.

​​Moderated by the Calgary Economic Development’s Geraldine Anderson, the panel featured:

  • Mark Little, co-founder and CEO Jotson Inc, and board member of General Fusion
  • Anna Baird, culture and innovation evangelist at Google
  • Dan Semmens, SVP and head of data and IT at ATB Financial
  • Arthur Kent, Canadian journalist and author
  • Joy Romero, executive advisor innovation at Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL)

Approximately 250 attendees gathered for the forum at the Calgary Petroleum Club on Feb. 8. Filled with industry leaders and burgeoning entrepreneurs, the forum focused on collaboration and knowledge sharing in the tech sector.

Over the past five years, Calgary has seen a 22 per cent increase in tech talent and total tech jobs, emerging as one of North America’s top markets for young tech professionals.

“The talent pool here is amazing,” said ​​John Givens, vice president of sales at C3 AI and one of the event’s organizers. “So how do we leverage our talent here? How do we share that knowledge?”

In response, this year’s forum included the inaugural “Mentors and Makers” initiative, where a dozen industry experts pinned green buttons to their lapels, signaling to anyone in the crowd that they’re open to a conversation.

Shawn Mahoney, another event organizer and co-founder of Spare Parts & Gasoline, said in his opening remarks that the initiative speaks to “creating the new innovators that we need to solve tomorrow’s problems.”

And with that, the panel took the stage to dig into the big questions: What are the challenges and opportunities for Alberta as a growing tech market? How will AI continue to change industries across the board? And if it does, will that be a bad thing?

The Alberta advantage

The panel conversation was kicked off by the first question asked by moderator Geraldine Anderson: “What is the Alberta mindset, or the ‘Alberta advantage?’” 

Mark Little. Photo by DX Journal / Digital Journal

Mark Little, co-founder and CEO Jotson Inc, said Alberta has a lot going for it — including having the highest GDP in Canada, a younger population, and high education levels — but those aren’t the advantages that stand out to him.

“There’s a resilience and an entrepreneurial spirit here,” he said. “As a result of that, we’re seeing innovation … I think 10 to 15 years from now we’re going to lead this country in innovation and it’ll be every sector you could imagine.”

Hailing from Vancouver and the only panelist not based in Calgary, Google’s Anna Baird said she considers herself an honorary Albertan based on the “sheer grittiness and roll up your sleeves and work together” attitude she’s witnessed. 

“The grittiness takes us into innovation,” said Baird. “We’re willing to try new things, we’re willing to fail — hopefully fast and cheaply, as is Google’s ethos. But we’re also willing to borrow with pride and give kudos to the people we’re borrowing the pride from so we can have building blocks.” 

The panelists’ discussion kept coming back to the importance of adaptability, innovation, and collaboration. While the province faces significant hurdles, including global market fluctuations and environmental concerns, they spoke with optimism about the potential to emerge stronger by investing in the future.

Dan Semmens, SVP and head of data and IT at ATB Financial, calls it an “opportunity” for both the province and country to focus on investing in the next generation.

“I think the opportunity there is continuing to invest in our most precious resource, which is our young people,” he said. 

When it comes to AI, “it’s on all of us” to level up our own skills

Joy Romero. Photo by DX Journal / Digital Journal

AI is already impacting most industries globally, and it shows no signs of slowing down. But it’s not new either.

Joy Romero, executive advisor of innovation at Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), said she was using AI neural networks 20 years ago to take ecological data and process it through oil sands facilities. 

“Why?” she asked. “Because that would allow us to improve our processing and our productivity … So for me, digital is our world. That’s productivity.”

The day of the panel, Google announced that Gemini Ultra 1.0, the largest version of their large language model, is being released to the public. 

Baird was asked about the implications of the new AI model, and while she acknowledged there will be challenges, she maintained that “the train has left the station.”

“It’s on all of us here in the room to level up our own skills,” she says. “With an announcement like Gemini, like you have to get in there, you have to play, you have to try.”

Anna Baird. Photo by DX Journal / Digital Journal

Transitioning to the realm of media and journalism, Canadian journalist Arthur Kent highlighted the increasing role of AI in newsrooms. From assisting journalists in gathering and analyzing data to content creation, journalists are experimenting with AI for efficiency and detecting false information.

“We can become even better if we harness artificial intelligence to do that,” said Kent. “So we constantly have to be developing and pushing ourselves forward, to keep pace with this.”

However, he emphasized the critical role of journalists in maintaining integrity and discerning between fact and fiction in an era of AI-generated content. 

“Journalism is always going to be a human process, because journalism is based on their location, and verification, verifying leads, tips, and figuring out rumour from fact,” said Kent. “So far, none of the machines that I’ve seen associated with artificial intelligence, have those human characteristics. However, there is also that human aspect called temptation.”

Arthur Kent. Photo by DX Journal / Digital Journal

In the financial services industry, Semmens said the impact of generative AI “poses an existential risk” to the relationship banks have with their clients. 

Despite this, he says incorporating AI technology into banking is “an incredible opportunity” to personalize experiences for customers more effectively and efficiently, and he expects to see a lot of changes in open banking in the next three to five years. 

“With all the disinformation that is out there, a trusted source is going to be a high commodity,” he said. “And so I think in banking, being a heavily regulated industry, there is an opportunity for us to really show up from that standpoint.”

Dan Semmens. Photo by DX Journal / Digital Journal

An innovation forum’s charitable roots

The Northern Lights Technology and Innovation Forum’s story begins over a decade ago. The organizers, including Givens, first banded together for the Gordie Howe C.A.R.E.S. Hockey Pro-Am Tournament in support of Alzheimer’s research and education. 

As the cause drew more attention they opted to expand the tournament into the forum as a way to expand their reach. All of the event proceeds go to Gordie Howe C.A.R.E.S. Centre for the Alzheimer’s Research and Education Society — and this year they broke their record, raising a minimum of $40,000 thanks in part to a funding match made by Google. 

“It’s amazing,” Givens said at the end of the night. “I always knew the potential of our community. And I explained to people that the community is the draw … It’s about education. It’s about doing the right thing. It’s about just finding ways for other people to get involved in doing the same thing. There’s enough energy there. Now we just have to harness it.”


DX Journal is an official media partner of the Northern Lights Technology and Innovation Forum.

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The Northern Lights Technology & Innovation Forum comes to Calgary next month

Panellists from Google, ATB, Jotson and Canadian media will join the the second annual Northern Lights Technology & Innovation Forum in Calgary on Feb. 8

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In a world increasingly dominated by global competition and technological advancement, the Northern Lights Technology and Innovation Forum focuses on the power of knowledge-sharing and collaboration in the tech community. 

Coming to Calgary Feb. 8, the forum places a spotlight on critical issues impacting the community. Last year’s focus was on enabling net-zero carbon emissions and this year the focus shifts to economic challenges and what solutions can be found through innovation.

As the past year has seen heavy inflation, layoffs, volatile energy prices and geopolitical instability, this year’s panel discussion is designed to  provide a “360-degree view” of how these challenges impact Alberta’s economy and community.  

Moderated by the Calgary Economic Development’s Geraldine Anderson, the panel includes:

  • Mark Little, co-founder and CEO Jotson Inc, and board member of General Fusion
  • Anna Baird, culture and innovation evangelist at Google
  • Dan Semmens, SVP and head of data and IT at ATB Financial
  • Arthur Kent, Canadian journalist and author
  • Joy Romero, executive advisor innovation at Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL)

Panellists will explore how governments, large companies, and startups can work together to navigate changes to come, and which technologies have the potential to positively disrupt the status quo. 

“Mark brings a massive amount of background, and he’s led thousands of folks in our community, and to see what he’s doing now in the global economy is going to be really exciting,” says John Givens, vice president of sales at C3 AI and one of the event’s organizers. “And to have somebody who comes from a leadership position at Google in Canada — we’re crazy excited about that.”

Givens adds that he expects artificial intelligence to be a focus, with panellists like Semmens likely to focus on what’s happening in financial markets, and how technology will continue to impact that sector.

And with a packed career including working as a foreign correspondent at NBC, Kent has been “involved in more things than I can keep track of,” says Givens. Kent is expected to discuss cybercrime and the political and military impacts of technology.

Transforming from a hockey tournament to an innovation forum

Givens and his fellow organizers launched the first forum last year as a way to expand their decade-long history with the Gordie Howe C.A.R.E.S. Hockey Pro-Am Tournament in support of Alzheimer’s research and education.

Taking it back to the hockey tournament where it all began, 100% of the proceeds of this event go to Gordie Howe C.A.R.E.S. Centre for the Alzheimer’s Research and Education Society. 

More than $300,000 has been raised by the team since its inception, and they commit an annual $25,000 to Alzheimer’s Society from the event. However, Givens emphasizes the importance of education and awareness in their campaign.

“It’s about education, not just the money,” he says. “It’s about creating awareness.”

John Givens and the C3 AI team for the Gordie Howe C.A.R.E.S. Hockey Pro-Am Tournament. Photo courtesy of John Givens

Outside of the charitable support, the event is meant to support the growing business community and tech sector in the province. Technological advancements are impacting all sectors, and Givens says it’s important to “mindshare” across disciplines and open avenues for new innovations to emerge.

“It’s called the Northern Lights for a reason — it represents Alberta,” says Givens in an interview with DX Journal. Givens notes that the convergence of technology, innovation, resilience, and charitable giving is central to the theme and purpose of this year’s event.

“What I’m really proud of when I think about the Calgary ecosystem is we have an enormous amount of talent in this community,” says Givens. “We’re competing on a global market now, so our customers are hiring globally, and they’re competing on wages globally. We need to bring our talent together and lift them all up and share the best of the best and let everybody know what the best looks like.”

More than 250 people are expected to gather at the Petroleum Club for the forum’s lively discussion and networking opportunities. The event is sponsored by Spare Parts & Gasoline (Presenting Sponsor), and the mesh conference (Platinum Sponsor), with DX Journal being this year’s media partner.


DX Journal is an official media partner of the Northern Lights Technology and Innovation Forum. To learn more and get tickets to the event, happening February 8, visit the event page

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COP28 points to AI for climate change solutions in developing countries

Examining AI initiatives brought up at the COP28 climate conference

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Need company data insights? AI can help. 

Better efficiency in healthcare? AI is there, too. 

It’s no surprise really, as AI paves its way into almost every industry. But the recent COP28 climate conference invited entire governments to consider AI as a solution to climate challenges in developing countries. 

Currently, governments already use AI to prepare for hurricanes, reduce water usage, and predict general climate patterns. It’s also been estimated that AI could help mitigate as as much as one-tenth of all greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

During COP28, which ran from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, Omar Sultan Al Olama, the United Arab Emirates Minister of State for AI, digital economy, and remote work applications, urged the entire world to integrate AI into climate policies.

“Harnessing artificial intelligence as a strategic asset to mitigate climate change involves integrating it into national policies and plans,” he said. “These measures and policies should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as a unified global initiative, acknowledging that climate change transcends geographical boundaries and requires concerted global efforts.”

Some examples of AI-inspired climate change initiatives include: 

  • Designs for low-emission technologies (advanced batteries)
  • Reduce emissions in food production and manufacturing
  • Balance electricity during extreme climate events like tropical storms
  • Identify renewable energy projects
  • Identify tropical disease with machine learning
  • Design hurricane-resistant buildings

Here are some highlights from other countries pledging to introduce AI into their climate policies: 

Barbados

“We are partnering with international tech companies to test their ideas in Barbados whilst contributing to the island’s development. Some ideas include using machine learning and AI to check for the presence of tropical diseases, design hurricane resistant buildings and plan infrastructure investment. Collaboration, training and technology transfer are key to ensuring that AI contributes effectively to climate mitigation and adaptation for small island developing states.”

Senegal

“It is important to adapt the technology to take account of the digital divide, especially among those most vulnerable to climate change. Integration of chatbot voice with local languages in these emerging technology tools is one solution that would ensure the existing digital divide is taken into account.”

  • Moussa Bocar Thiam, Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Senegal

USA

“We must manage the risks and seize the promise of artificial intelligence. The United States is committed to doing so, as President Biden’s recent Executive Order on AI demonstrates. By working together, we can responsibly harness the power of this emerging technology to develop AI tools that help mitigate climate change risks, make our communities more sustainable and resilient, and build an equitable clean energy future for all.”

  • Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor, United States of America

Learn more about COP28 here

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