In case you haven’t noticed it, the recovery is underway. The economy is affecting all aspects of business, of course. But every day here at Xconomy we write about the unrelenting pace of innovation and see firsthand how, if anything, the pace has picked up during the recession—nothing like hard times to get the creative juices flowing, it seems. The current outpouring of new products, ideas, and companies spans many fields, from biotech to computing, mobile devices, robotics, energy, and more—with the potential to affect all aspects of our lives. And it’s this torrent of innovation, not any bailouts or stimuli, that will drive us out of recession and ensure future U.S. competitiveness.
Because New England is a world leader in high-tech innovation, we’ve decided it’s high time to move past all the doom and gloom surrounding the economy and highlight and celebrate innovation in the region in a new, and bigger, way. To that end, we are extremely pleased today to announce XSITE 2009—the Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, a full-day event that will be held on June 24 at Boston University. We have partnered with BU’s Office of Technology Development to hold XSITE 2009, the first of what will become an annual conference focused on innovation in New England. The event will take place at BU’s School of Management on Commonwealth Avenue. And we are honored that BU President Bob Brown will be giving the welcoming address.
XSITE will bring together innovators from every sphere of the innovation community—across all the disciplines I mentioned above and more, and across institutions including universities, venture firms, startups, and the biggest public companies operating in the region.
We are thrilled with how well the idea of this summit has resonated with leaders in all these areas and institutions. Just a sampling of the many luminaries who will be taking part in XSITE includes: Juan Enriquez of Biotechonomy, who will deliver a keynote address; Nobel Laureate Phil Sharp of MIT; Jeff Nick, chief technology officer of EMC; Reed Sturtevant, managing director of Microsoft Startup Labs; Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore; Boston Power CEO Christina Lampe-Onnerud; Boston Scientific co-founder John Abele; Mohamad Ali, IBM’s senior state executive for MA; Yet-Ming Chiang, co-founder of A123Systems; and Mick Mountz, CEO of industrial robot maker Kiva Systems.
Startup aficionados, meanwhile, will have lots to love about XSITE, which will feature some of the coolest and most promising young companies in New England. In addition to Kiva, these include black silicon developer SiOnyx, fat-busting firm Zafgen, “roadable” airplane maker Terrafugia, Web video audience tracking firm Visible Measures, and Satori Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a pill to fight Alzheimer’s disease. We will also lift the curtain on several stealth-mode startups at the summit (of course we aren’t naming them yet).
And summit attendees will have a chance to share their own ideas about innovation in a variety of ways, including during the XSITE Xpo, a dynamic session in which a dozen of New England’s most promising startups will tell their stories and audience members will pick which firms will likely be the most transformative in the years to come.
We will be revealing more about the event in the next few weeks. On Twitter, follow us at @XconomyXSITE (hash tag #xsite09) and see our current lists of speakers and get registration details at www.XSITE2009.com. We look forward to seeing you on June 24.
