New D2 Speakers: Sandy Pentland, Wayne Chang, Katie Rae on Nov. 21

November 21 is shaping up to be special.

We are convening top experts from Boston and beyond for a half-day technology conference called “D2: The Future of Data and Devices.” It’s all happening at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology in Boston, near South Station. Tickets have been going fast, but you can still register here.

The theme is pretty broad, but think “big data meets connected devices and the cloud.” And all the security, privacy, and infrastructure issues that arise from that, across fields such as finance, social media, and product design.

In addition to luminaries like Dharmesh Shah, Ash Ashutosh, and Chris Lynch, we have recently added a number of key speakers to amp up our star power further:

—The MIT Media Lab’s Alex “Sandy” Pentland will pair up with R.R. Donnelley CEO Tom Quinlan for a fireside chat about the future of content and connectivity (among other things). An overarching theme here is the convergence of digital technologies and the real world—solving problems in areas like logistics, communication, and collaboration.

—Wayne Chang from Crashlytics and Twitter (perhaps you’ve heard of them) will share his thoughts on social/mobile communication and business psychology, from both a startup and big company perspective. Don’t ask him about the IPO, he can’t talk about it.

—Jon Hirschtick, the founder of SolidWorks and now chairman of Belmont Technology, will help us understand cloud-based disruption in areas such as hardware design and development.

—Maia Heymann, fearless leader of CommonAngels, will share her wisdom on startups, investing, and finance where it comes to big data and devices.

—Stephen Baier, who heads up architecture at Fidelity Investments, will help us understand big data and analytics from a user perspective.

—Katie Rae, head of Techstars Boston, will help us understand the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs building companies around data and devices.

—Derek Schoettle, CEO of Cloudant, will talk about building a database-as-a-service business and his vision of a “data layer” around the globe.

—Michael Skok from North Bridge Venture Partners joins us to talk about cloud-and-data-based startups that are trying to disrupt some very entrenched industries.

You can check out the full speaker list and registration info here. I will have the agenda soon. Look forward to seeing you all on Nov. 21.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.