Tomorrow the New York Academy of Sciences will be home to New York’s first ever Energy Infotech Forum—a full-day event for entrepreneurs who are developing cleantech applications and the investors who want to support them. The day will feature expert speakers, as well as presentations from nine New York-based cleantech startups.
For the event’s host, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the conference marks a full-scale effort to close a gap in New York’s cleantech economy. “We have one of the largest IT industry clusters in the U.S.,” says Michael Shimazu, senior project manager for NYSERDA. “We have significant challenges that create a market for renewable energy, smart grid applications, and a broad range of other energy products. And we have financial resources. But we need to convene those communities to pull it all together.”
The Energy Infotech Forum will feature some of the city’s best-known cleantech executives. Speakers include Jane Snowdon, a senior manager at IBM’s Industry Solutions and Emerging Business department, Seth Frader-Thompson, CEO of Brooklyn-based cleantech startup Energy Hub, and several Con Edison executives.
The centerpiece of the event will be the presentations by the cleantech entrepreneurs. Shimazu says each company will be given two minutes to give its
