The Austin Forum Upload The Austin Forum Upload

Paul O'Brien, CEO and Founder of MediaTech Ventures (and SXSW attend for many years!) joins Austin Forum on Technology and Society executive director Jay Boisseau (and also a regular at SXSW Interactive) to discuss this year's SXSW Interactive conference and share highlights in the technologies content of the program. They discussing technology topics including AI, cybersecurity, digital privacy and trust, metaverse, gaming, climate tech, quantum computing, and more, and why the coverage of all these technologies--and the applications and influence in society--make SXSW Interactive an important conference to supplement more focused technology topics conferences. They close with recommendations for companies, executives, technology professionals, and individuals about how to get the most out of SXSW Interactive for their organizations, careers, and lives.

The video game market is much larger than Hollywood box office or music purchases, even though it’s not (yet?) as universal. Gaming is also evolving. PC and console games are now massive productions with a strong focus on story, with directors and writers (and awards!), making them better for movies and series. “The Last of Us” is now an HBO series based on the award-winning game, and builds on a great storyline—a weakness for many previous game-based movies and series. Gaming is also driving technologies such as graphics cards, displays, and gaming engines forward in ways that benefit other computing devices and drives innovation in graphics used in video. In short, the large gaming market has increasing influence outside of gaming, and a there is growing convergence of gaming content and technologies with other areas of entertainment—and soon with work, education, and daily life. Gaming is changing technology and society, and we’re going to benefit in many ways.

The recent announcement by LastPass being hacked—and other recent notable cybersecurity incidents—led us to chat with Gabe Schuyler, enterprise solutions engineer at Wiz and general computer security expert. Join us as John Lockman, our own AF Tech Director, also shares his personal computer security advice with AF Director Jay Boisseau in this informative episode—and then go fix your computer security holes.

Misinformation (including disinformation, which is intentional disinformation), have been around as long as humans have had communication and conflict. However, technologies such as the web, smartphones, and social media have enabled spreading of misinformation much faster and more widely. This has created mistrust in political leaders, in science such as vaccines and climate change, in social issues, and more. Robert Matney of PrimerAI shares with Austin Forum executive Director Jay Boisseau the history and current disinformation landscape, and they discuss how technologies (smartphones, social media, etc.) have enabled faster creation and distribution of mis-, dis-, and mal-information. We then discuss recommendations for individuals and companies, and how technologies including AI as well as improvements in the current tech tools may help with identification and mitigation. All hope is not lost!

Economics expert and consultant Angelos Angelou, CEO and founder of both Angelou Economics and International Accelerator, joins Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau to discuss the economic health of the tech sector--in Austin and beyond--heading into 2023, and what Angelos expects for 2023 in tech job growth rates, tech stock valuations, challenges presented by both supply chain issues and by sanctions, and much more.

Economics expert and consultant Angelos Angelou, CEO and founder of both Angelou Economics and International Accelerator, joins Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau to discuss the economic health of the tech sector--in Austin and beyond--heading into 2023, and what Angelos expects for 2023 in tech job growth rates, tech stock valuations, challenges presented by both supply chain issues and by sanctions, and much more.