Disruptive Technology and the Future of Business

By Emily Atkinson
Vice President, Government Affairs
Greater Raleigh Chamber

Wednesday's event on "Disruptive Technology and the Future of Business" featured great discussions from two impressive panels. We heard from:

• Mary-Ann Baldwin, Raleigh City Council
• Ryan Beckland, Validic
• Matthew Davis, NCRIoT
• Dr. Marc Hoit, NC State University
• Adam Klein, American Underground
• Larry Steffan, NCRIoT, and
• Thomas Vass, Private Capital Markets.

The panelists discussed how to foster innovation and creativity and how to prepare the workforce for the dynamic world of technology. They gave examples of how disruptive technologies are impacting our lives and changing the face of business. A takeaway was that in order to further promote the Triangle as a top city for technology, it's critical that we create and nurture partnerships between academic, public, and private institutions.

Disruptive tech is a wholesale change in the way that something is done -- it has to be 10x better #disruptbiz

— raleighchamber (@raleighchamber) January 20, 2016

#IoT may open even more opportunities for biz than the Internet did. NC has the chance to take advantage of these opps. #disruptbiz

— Wake County Econ Dev (@RaleighWake) January 20, 2016

@AdamKlein: Chg required in edu to produce skills for future techno jobs - need coders & emp who can think #disruptbiz @raleighchamber

— Sheila Ahler (@SheilaAhler) January 20, 2016

A. Klein: Have to rethink workforce strategy. Ask employers what they will need; help workers gain those skills and new jobs. #DisruptBiz

— Lynne Garrison (@LGarrison) January 20, 2016

.@maryannbaldwin sees transportation as an upcoming growing tech for our area that will be a model for others #DisruptBiz

— raleighchamber (@raleighchamber) January 20, 2016

Pay attention to the businesses that are not going after your customers, but are getting the customers you're not serving #DisruptBiz

— raleighchamber (@raleighchamber) January 20, 2016

.@maryannbaldwin wants to ensure that we are a city of innovation & not a city of regulation. Not being fearful of change. #disruptbiz

— Wake County Econ Dev (@RaleighWake) January 20, 2016

It is incumbent on businesses to partner w/ academic institutions on workforce development. It's the key to the future. #DIsruptBiz

— Emily Atkinson (@GRCClobbyist) January 20, 2016

@maryannbaldwin says @InnovateRaleigh example of building community that can act fast on opportunity. #DisruptBiz pic.twitter.com/tBd4C7nBmv

— Leadership exCHANGE (@Leader_exCHANGE) January 20, 2016

Thomas Vass, we need an innovation pipeline of capital to reinvest in companies as they grow & keep then in NC #DisruptBiz

— Wake County Econ Dev (@RaleighWake) January 20, 2016

Another example of how technology is significantly impacting employees and businesses is in the world of healthcare. We'll explore the newest issues in the industry and discuss how businesses can navigate this ever-evolving environment at a special forum on Feb. 25. Learn more and register here.

We hope yesterday's program serves as the beginning of this important conversation, and we encourage everyone to continue to work with community and business leaders to support and promote disruptive technologies in our region.