RICHARDSON, Texas, March 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Don Tapscott, a global leader in spotting digital innovation’s impact on huge segments of the worldwide economy — including finance and cryptocurrency — will headline the Emerging Technologies Summit at The University of Texas at Dallas. The summit, April 18-19 on the UT Dallas campus, will include experts in artificial intelligence, fintech, blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.

Tapscott, who will speak April 18, has tracked digital influence and impact for decades, going back to the 1980s. His most recent book, written with his son, Alex Tapscott, is The Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business, and the World (New York: Penguin Books, 2016). His TEDTalk, “How the blockchain is changing money and business,” has more than 2.8 million views on YouTube.

“Today’s thriving economies rely heavily on fintech — financial technology — yet few users understand its importance to daily transactions, such as online and mobile banking, and its connection to blockchain,” says Steve Guengerich, executive director of the UT Dallas Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and an associate professor at the Naveen Jindal School of Management. “The goal of the summit is to bring together the pioneers in these areas, to build the ecosystem in the greater Dallas region and to enable the next generation’s new ventures.”

Among the fintech, blockchain and AI professionals participating and speaking at the summit are:

• Leemon Baird, Swirlds Inc: founder and CTO, inventor of Hashgraph
• Raffi Gostanian, intellectual property attorney, blockchain and quantum computing
• Peter Hunn, Clause.io: founder, Accord Project, smart contract expert
• Mark Hopkins, Roger Wilco Agency: founder, IBM futurist and blockchain evangelist
• Shamoil Shipchandler, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Regional Director
• Wes Williams, Goldman Sachs: Global Head – Security Incident Response, Head of Dallas Technology

“We are pleased to be among the presenting sponsors of the Emerging Technologies Summit, to reinforce our deep commitment to being an active ecosystem builder in the fintech and financial services industry generally, and in the North Texas region specifically,” said Wes Williams, head of Goldman Sachs Technology in Dallas.

Bryan Chambers, director of UT Dallas’ Blackstone LaunchPad, says corporate sponsorship permits this event to include top thought leaders. “Other key sponsors and partners include Nano Global Corp., Texas Capital Bank, Tech Titans, Dallas TiE, Capital Factory and the Dallas Entrepreneur Center.”

A summit highlight, Chambers says, is a showcase of startups and entrepreneurial companies that will demonstrate their use and the impact of technologies that leverage artificial intelligence, blockchain, distributed ledger technologies and “internet of things”/mobility. Showcase startups will include Swirlds (inventor of Hashgraph), AmplifAI, Parkhub and RoboKind.

The UT Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management, Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship also are sponsoring the summit.

Tickets, required for all events, are on sale for both event days.

Wednesday, April 18
4-5:30 p.m. Executive Briefing with Don Tapscott
6-7 p.m. Keynote with Don Tapscott, presented by Goldman Sachs
7:15-9 p.m. Reception with Don Tapscott (by invitation only)

Thursday, April 19
8 a.m.-1 p.m. Speakers, panel discussions, breakout presentations and innovation showcase

For information, contact Sarah Crowe, Blackstone LaunchPad program manager, sarah.crowe@utdallas.edu. For a complete list of events, locations and ticket prices, go to the Emerging Technologies Summit website.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
NAVEEN JINDAL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
800 West Campbell Road
Richardson, Texas, 75080-3021

News Contact: Jimmie R. Markham, Naveen Jindal School of Management, (972) 883-5079, 191536@email4pr.com 

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SOURCE Naveen Jindal School of Management