Tech notes

Mar 2 2006 By Herb Kim, The Journal

I'd been warned that attending the Technology Entertainment Design (TED) Conference in the US would be unlike going to any other event - and last week's show proved the point.

Within three hours of the start, I met Matt Groening - creator of the Simpsons - sat next to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, asked Al Gore his advice on who I should support in the next US presidential campaign and spoke with a woman who'd discovered a compound that could lead to a 60% reduction in Alzheimer's-related brain cell death.

It gets better: She discovered this compound at the age of 15. Now, as a university sophomore, she's dabbling into understanding how stem cells could be applied towards a cure for cancer.

When TED started two decades ago it was on the premise that the worlds of entertainment, design and technology were increasingly converging. From this premise, it has become a world-leading forum where the best from the science, technology, digital, entertainment, design and non-profit worlds come together to discuss their work. As Al Gore put it, it's an extraordinary group of people who collectively have the ability to change the world.

While the concentration of political, financial and brain power was intimidating, I was heartened to see Codeworks' agenda and the larger One Northeast technology agenda is in line with themes including effects of ageing in both biological and economic terms.

Renewable energy and the environment were also hot topics. In his discussion about evidence of climate change, Al Gore presented compelling data and displayed an infectious passion sorely lacking in his 2000 presidential campaign.

It's the contacts I've gained that will be most valuable to Codeworks and our regional agenda. From a divisional director of Google to the head of Yahoo Search to the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi to the director of Sony's market research to a columnist for the New York Times, I'm confident we'll be able to leverage these meetings to the benefit of our regional projects.

For 2007, TED has already filled 750 of its 1000 spots. I'm looking forward to continuing to build our relationships with global digerati.