Keynotes shine at Georgia Technology Summit
The Georgia Technology Summit once again lined up speakers that best represent and celebrate this year’s theme, Innovation Discovery. Caleb Harper will be speaking about the future development of food systems. Glenn Lurie will be speaking about the future of mobility and smart device connectivity. The following will provide background and experience of the two keynote speakers.
Caleb Harper
Caleb Harper, Principal Investigator and Director of Open Agriculture of MIT Media Lab, is one of the opening keynote speakers at the 2017 Georgia Technology Summit. Caleb Harper is actively impacting the world as he is changing how we grow food to feed and nourish the 9 billion people of 2050. An engineer turned urban farmer , is working to reverse the global food crisis by revolutionizing modern agriculture. He leads a diverse team at MIT comprised of engineers, architects, urbanists, economists and plant scientists in the exploration and development of future food systems.
Prior to joining the MIT Media Lab in 2011, worked professionally as an architect, designing and developing data centers, healthcare and semiconductor fabrication facilities. He has consulted consulted with multiple international development agencies, which includes USAID, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the Delhi Development Authority on high-density urban development projects. His work has been featured by publications such as TIME, WIRED, The Economist, National Geographic, The Smithsonian, Popular Science and IEEE.
The “Food Computer” is the name Harper dubbed for the disruptive, open-source, scalable, controlled-environment agriculture technology platform. The technology exists now and has been found to be rapidly evolving and supporting companies, public schools and warehouses already stacked with their vertical farms. Harper has set his research focus in the areas of controlled environment design, actuated sensing, control automation and data-driven resource, energy and biologic optimization. The digital world farm is the new model that has passionately believes is needed, he combines the technology of computing, architecture and engineering with the desire to grow things. Harper is not only changing agriculture but also changing lives in the process for a greater future.
Glenn Lurie
Glenn Lurie is the President and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Operations. His responsibilities include the operations of the mobility business as well as the overall customer experience across all consumer services including entertainment, video, home broadband and wireless - which includes all sales and distribution, service and operations of wireless. Lurie played professional soccer in Cleveland, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland then transitioned into a career in technology during the early days of the wireless industry at McCaw Cellular. Over the past two decades, he helped usher in the modern smartphone era by leading AT&T’s negotiations to introduce the first iPhone and iPad.
Lurie led the formation of new businesses at AT&T including the company’s Internet of Things (IoT) business which now boasts 30 million connections, including 10 million cars. He built AT&T Digital Life, the company's home automation and security business, and launched Aio Wireless - now Cricket Wireless. He additionally served as the President of National Distribution, President of AT&T’s West region, Regional Vice President for the California/Hawaii region and Vice President and General Manager for the Los Angeles/Southern California market.
Lurie is active in industry associations and within the community, as he most recently served as chairman of the board for the Consumer Technology Industry Association in 2016. He is currently a board member and the 2018 chair-elect of the Metro Atlanta chamber of Commerce, where he also serves as Chairman of the chamber’s Mobility Task Force. He also serves on the Delphi Technology Advisory Council and is a member of the executive advisory board of Curing Kids Cancer and the board of the Atlanta Concorde Fire Soccer Club.
