The organizers of The Future of High Tech have succeeded in booking Chris Anderson – leading entrepreneur and author of the best-seller The long tail – as a keynote speaker on 25 May. The Future of High Tech (24 and 25 May) is an international event that puts Twente firmly on the world map of high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship, bringing together national and international entrepreneurs, industry leaders and disruptive technology investors. The Future of High Tech is organized by Technologie Kring Twente, Kennispark Twente, Saxion and the University of Twente, and is linked to Startup Fest Europe.
Chris Anderson has an impressive record both as a writer and an entrepreneur. He has launched a variety of successful businesses, including DIY Drones, GeekDad and BookTour. Anderson currently heads the American company he helped to found, 3D Robotics, which has already attracted over $100 million in venture capital. The company started in 2009 with the development and production of hobby drones, and now also focuses on professional drones and data collection for businesses. Anderson has numerous prestigious prizes and honourable mentions to his name, and is seen as one of the greatest thinkers of our time in the field of technology and innovation.
Early in his career Anderson worked for the science journals Science and Nature as well as for The Economist. He then became general editor of the famous tech magazine WIRED, a publication that focuses on the societal impact of upcoming technologies. In 2006 Anderson caused a furore with his best-seller The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, a book that has since become a global management classic. In it, Anderson describes the business models of companies like Amazon.com, Bol.com and iTunes, and shows why in the future we will be selling more things, but fewer of them. Companies will, due to the rise of the internet, will get a bigger share of their income from (a greater number) of products of which they sell only a few. The greater the number of products, the higher the income.
The Future of High Tech
Jaap Beernink, entrepreneur and co-organizer of The Future of High Tech, is especially delighted that Anderson will be speaking at the event. “For me Anderson is a source of inspiration and knowledge, and a symbol of the way technology really can change the world. He describes it in his book and he puts it into actual practice with his company 3D Robotics. It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to bring Anderson to Twente, because his expertise and entrepreneurial attitude are a seamless match with this event and this region. Twente’s entrepreneurs, government authorities and knowledge institutes have succeeded in creating a coherent entrepreneurial and high-tech innovation ecosystem, and have now built up over 30 years’ experience in this field. Moreover, Twente is also becoming a European ‘hot spot’ for drone technology.”
On 24 and 25 May entrepreneurs, industry leaders and investors from all over the world will be coming to Twente, to meet one another and to immerse themselves in a content-rich programme focusing on disruptive innovation and entrepreneurship. The aim of the event is to contribute directly towards the growth of new and existing high-tech companies by, for instance, helping them make the right international contacts. If you are looking for investors, or for projects to invest in, if you want to meet industrial partners, or are scouting for new talent, then this is one event you must not miss.
The Future of High Tech is part of Startup Fest Europe, an initiative which is putting the Netherlands on the international map as an incubator for start-ups and innovative companies. The Future of High Tech is organized by Technologie Kring Twente, Kennispark Twente, Saxion and the University of Twente. Startup Fest Europe is an initiative of Neelie Kroes, ‘special envoy’ for StartupDelta.
More information
The website www.thefutureofhightech.com has more details on this event. The organization will soon be giving details of more inspiring speakers. Ticket sales for this event open on 30 March, via the website.
