Watch CBS News

Techonomy Detroit To Discuss City's Competitiveness, Jobs, Urban Future

NEW YORK CITY -- Techonomy Detroit, hosted by the Detroit Economic Club, will be a unique one-day multidisciplinary gathering of national and local leaders focused on reigniting U.S. competitiveness, creating jobs, and revitalizing our cities in an age of technology.

Innovators, executives, entrepreneurs, academics and thought leaders from technology, business, government and design will assemble at Wayne State University on September 12, 2012, to discuss the far-reaching potential of technology-enabled change to accelerate economic, urban and social progress.

"The time is now for an aggressive discussion of the many ways tech's rapid evolution is changing the way we must think about our economy and our cities," said David Kirkpatrick, founder, host and CEO of Techonomy Media and author of The Facebook Effect. "Detroit's economic struggles make it an apt stage for a national conversation on the role of tech in progress for cities, industries, economy and society. And in Detroit you can feel the nascent energy of revival driven by business and the local community. We're pleased that the Detroit Economic Club and President Beth Chappell share our passion for this unfolding technologized future and have joined to host this unique event."

Confirmed speakers include:
• Jack Dorsey, inventor of Twitter and founder of payments company Square
• Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist
• Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and Revolution Capital
• Vivek Kundra, EVP of Emerging Markets, salesforce.com and former CIO of the United States
• Richard N. Bolles, author of job-hunting bible What Color is Your Parachute?
• Carlo Ratti, director of MIT's SENSEable City Lab
• Catherine Kelly, publisher of The Michigan Citizen
• Mark Hatch, CEO of TechShop
• Ben Kaufman, CEO of Quirky
• Timothy Bryan, CEO of GalaxE.Solutions

"By hosting Techonomy in Detroit, we're continuing our commitment of nearly 80 years to provide a platform for the most important business, government and social issues of the day," said Beth Chappell, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Club. "With Detroit at the forefront of national discussion on the future of business in American cities, our members and business community will hear, first-hand, from leading voices about the trends and ideas that will make a difference here and around the world."

For more information on Techonomy Detroit or to purchase tickets to the event, please visit http://conf.techonomy.com/12-detroit/overview or www.econclub.org.

Techonomy is about an idea, that technology is firmly at the core of all economic and social progress. Our goal is to help leaders and citizens better understand the far-reaching potential of technology-enabled change and to see how this rapid transformation can be harnessed to accelerate progress, productivity and competitiveness. In addition to special events like Techonomy Detroit, Techonomy Media Inc. organizes the annual Techonomy conference in November which brings together about 275 leaders to explore the full range of ways that tech is driving change in business and society. The annual flagship Techonomy conferences in 2010 and 2011 included notable speakers such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Marc Benioff, Sean Parker, Jim Breyer, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Eric Schmidt, Neelie Kroes, Dan Hesse, Marissa Mayer, Craig Mundie, Esther Dyson and Hamadoun Touré. For more information, visit www.techonomy.com.

The Detroit Economic Club was founded in 1934 as a platform for the debate and discussion of important business, government and social issues of the day. The club is known internationally as a forum for hosting prominent CEOs, senior government officials, education and labor leaders as well as other luminaries. The club is proud to have hosted every U.S. President since Richard Nixon and to be ranked among the top speaking platforms in the world. The DEC is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.