Like Liam Neeson, the Boston tech community has a very particular set of skills. It can do other things, but what it’s best known for, historically, is enterprise software and hardware. In other words, technology for big companies. And in the process of developing that technology and expertise, the region is also looking to build more big companies of its own.
That’s the focus of our Enterprise Tech Strikes Back conference on December 2, at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology in Boston. We’ve just posted the agenda for the afternoon, so you can see the flow and topics. There are still a few moving parts, but I will lock it down soon.
Today (Nov. 13) is the last day to catch the special saver rate, and we also have discounts for a few more startups and students. We’ve already got a fantastic group of entrepreneurs, executives, and investors coming—but please register if you want to join the discussion.
Just a few highlights from the program:
—Steve Papa, the co-founder of Endeca (acquired by Oracle) who’s now working on too many companies to name, will talk about “Why We Need Innovators in the Enterprise.” Short story: big companies are great at killing bad ideas, but almost all good ideas start as bad ideas.
—Cyber Insecurity: We’ve signed up leaders from Rapid7, Raytheon, and Intel to join Recorded Future’s Christopher Ahlberg for a discussion on enterprise security and cyber threats. Rapid7 co-founder Tas Giakouminakis, Raytheon Cybersecurity and Special Missions CTO Michael Daly, and Intel Security vice president and chief technical strategist Scott Montgomery will represent this exploding field that touches all aspects of the enterprise.
—Building the Next Great Infrastructure Company: We’re very pleased to have the new executive director of the New England Venture Capital Association, Jody Rose, lead a discussion on how to grow more big anchor companies in Boston. Some factors to think about: venture investment trends, policy issues, universities and talent flow, mentoring programs, business leadership, and key areas of technical expertise.
We’re really looking forward to convening this distinguished group of speakers and attendees. I think some very interesting ideas and relationships will emerge from the discussions. More updates soon, and see you all on Dec. 2.