HorizonWatching

Cleantech Group: 10 Cleantech Predictions for 2010

Cleantech Group has been providing a list of predictions for a number of years now.  Of course the predictions have to do with the Cleantech industry.  In this year’s version, Chairman Nicholas Parker ‘pens’ the list of ten trends to watch for in 2010. 

Here is the list.

1. Private capital growth will recover.  The CleanTech Group believes that the amount of money from global venture capital and private equity in clean technology in 2010 will surpass that in 2009 “by a healthy margin” and could be a record year.
2. Clean economies become the new space race.  Some countries / cities will lead the pack, others will wait and implement later. Greater protectionism surrounding the industry will be a drawback.
3. Electric cars take the back seat to smart mobility.  The electric car trend will eventually influence urban design and planning. Governments’ tax incentives and budgets will be impacted.
4. Resource constraints beyond carbon rise to the fore.   Watch for price spikes that impact clean technology sectors as the economy picks up.  This will push companies to use resources more efficiently in order to maintain or boost their profitability.
5. Commodity trade-off debates intensify.  Look for trade-off debates in the areas of water and energy; land and energy; land and water and carbon and water.   The Cleantech Group predicts that more environmentalists will object to wind and solar projects because of how they use up swaths of land and obstruct the landscape views.
6. Energy efficiency eclipses solar.  Innovations in information and communication technology, along with more policy support, will help create a boom in energy efficiency.
7. Marketing suddenly matters. Cleantech Group says that branding will become more important as clean technology goes mainstream.  Marketing campaigns are likely to target more consumers instead of just businesses.
8. Buffett leads the super rich into cleantech.  Cleantech Group points out how U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett has made plays in clean tech-related companies, including GE, Goldman Sachs and Chinese electric car battery maker  BYD Co Ltd. 
9. Acquisitions and consolidations accelerate.    Cleantech Group looks for the pace of consolidation to accelerate in countries with overcapacity like Germany and China.   
10. The rise of waste-to-energy, geothermal and aquaculture, as part of a shift to more sustainable agriculture and food production.

For more detail, check out the full article Ten Clean Technology Predictions For 2010

Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2010

Last month, Gartner published its annual list of Top Strategic Technologies.   Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years.  Factors that denote significant impact include a high potential for disruption to IT or the business, the need for a major dollar investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.

The 2010 list they recently published goes like this…

1. Cloud Computing
2. Advanced Analytics
3. Client Computing
4. IT for Green
5. Reshaping the Data Center
6. Social Computing
7. Security – Activity Monitoring
8. Flash Memory
9. Virtualization for Availability
10. Mobile Applications

I found a pdf file of the Gartner presentation of these trends at this fmisociety.org URL (valid as of Nov. 23).  For more information, you can read the Gartner Press Release “Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2010” or check out the video below.

You can see the previous lists for 2009 and 2008

• Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2009

• Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2008

Verizon: Top Ten Business Technology Trends For 2010

Verizon (www.verizonbusiness.com)  recently published its annual list of 10 business technology trends that it says will help companies grow their business in 2010.  While the list highlights the markets that Verizon plays in, the technologies are certainly ones that we should be watching.

Here’s a summary of Verizon Business’ list of 10 hot trends that will help move business forward in 2010 (my summary of the trend in italics):

1. Enterprise Social Networking.   Social networking integrated into enterprise unified communications and collaboration strategies.  
2. Aiming for the ‘Clouds’.  Cloud computing adoption continues, making IT more efficient and businesses more agile.
3. 360 Security.  A trend towards applying security wherever data happens to be at the moment 
4. Mobilizing the Workforce:  From Telework to Telepresence.  Companies to accelerate deployment of mobile apps to help spur productivity and innovation.
5. Borderless Business.  Extending enterprise services and apps to employees, customers, suppliers and partners.
6. High IQ Networks Fueling a Smart Economy.   Trend towards smarter networks will allow companies to allocate resources where and when needed.
7. The Focus Will Be on Green.   The green trend continues to and will increasingly impact the way consumers and businesses make decisions.
8. Seeing Is Believing.  Video is increasingly being used as a business tool to conduct meetings and deliver real-time content.
9. More Wireless Apps, Especially Machine to Machine.   Wireless apps enable machines to communicate with each other and make “smart” decisions without human intervention. 
10. 20/20 Vision.  Verizon ends with a very generic trend that says businesses will make better decisions in 2010 that will fuel their future growth.

For the full report, including video, audio podcasts and other related online resources, visit: http://www.verizonbusiness.com/go/2010_trends

For Verizon’s 2009 top trends list, check out my blog post Verizon: 2009 Top 10 Tech Trends

Gartner Announces The "IT Market Clock" To Help Companies Prioritize IT Investments

Gartner, Inc (http://www.gartner.com) recently announced it’s IT Market Clock decision framework it says will assist IT and business leaders manage their portfolio of IT assets and activities throughout the entire asset life cycle. 

The IT Market Clock has been developed to be complementary to Gartner’s famous Hype Cycles.  The Hype Cycles help us all understand where individual technologies are in the adoption cycle, by displaying those technologies on a curve (e.g. hype cycle curve) from their first appearance to mainstream maturity.   The newly announced IT Market Clock will help monitor the progress of IT technologies from the time they first become viable to deploy and use, to the time when Gartner says it’s time to retire those assets.

You can view the IT Market Cloud below via the SlideShare embed (For a download of the slide, double click on the embed).

Gartner IT Market Clock

View more presentations from Gartner.

The IT market clock uses a clock-face image to represent relative “market time” and how technology assets are positioned based on their progress through their market life cycles and commoditization levels.  Assets start at 0 and move clockwise around to 12 o’clock. The clock face has four quarters, each representing one phase of IT market life and each suggesting how IT leaders should respond.  The four quarters of the clock are labled:

• Advantage — From 12:00 to 3:00, means this is a new asset.  The product or service has little or no competition.  This would be like a First of a Kind  or customized solutions.  Skill and experience levels are low and could be costly.
• Choice — From 3:00 to 6:00, during which time the market typically moves from adolescence to early mainstream. This is the phase of highest demand growth, during which supply options should grow and prices fall at their fastest rate.
• Cost — From 6:00 to 9:00, here the market for this technology is moving towards mature mainstream. Gartner says that commoditization sets in and costs will be the strongest motivator in most procurement decisions.
• Replacement — From 9:00 to 12:00, Gartner says the market is moving through legacy and to "market end".  The technology is nearing the end of its useful life. Procurement and operating costs will steadily rise and organizations need a replacement strategy.

It will be interesting to see if this framework takes hold and becomes as popular as the Gartner Hype Cycles.  For more on Gartner’s IT Market Clock, dowload this pdf:  Introducing the Gartner IT Market Clock.

Forrester's Top 15 Technology Trends For Enterprise Architects To Watch

Last month, Forrester published a report The Top 15 Technology Trends EA Should Watch that listed 15 technologies with the greatest potential for business impact over the next three years.   The report was presented on a November 4 conference call by two Forrester VPs, Alex Cullen and Gene Leganza. 

Forrester opened up the presentation by discussing the reasons why companies need to monitor new and changing technologies.  Simply said, IT organizations need to understand how changes in technology will impact IT and business operations, both short-term and long-term.

To come up with the list of 15 technologies, Forrester used three criteria during the selection process.

• Impact on the Business and/or IT Operating Model
• Newness of the Technology, which translates into lack of understanding/experience
• Complexity of the Technology, which can minimize ability to leverage the technology or can translate into risk of failure

Forrester grouped the list of 15 into five major themes.  Here is the list of 15 below.

Theme No. 1: Social Computing In And Around The Enterprise.  The social computing trend will have a huge impact on business…as it is having in our personal lives

1. Collaboration platforms become people-centric
2. Customer community platforms integrate with business apps
3. Tele-presence gains widespread use

Theme No. 2: Process-Centric Data And Intelligence.  This theme emphasizes the shift from batch analytics to real-time business analytics.

1. Business Intelligence goes real-time
2. Master data management matures
3. Data quality services become real-time

Theme No. 3: Restructured IT Service Platforms.  This theme is about providing greater scalability and flexibility while reducing support costs.

1. Sass Will be ubiquitous for packaged apps
2. Cloud-based platforms become standard infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service
3. Client virtualization is ubiquitous

Theme No. 4: Agile And Fit-To-Purpose Applications.  This theme signals that improving a firm's application flexibility is getting easier for EAs

1. Business rules processing moves to the mainstream
2. BPM will be the Web-2.0-enabled
3. Policy-based SOA becomes predominant
4. Security will be data-and content-based

Theme No. 5: Mobile As The New Desktop.   During the next three years, mobile computing will expand dramatically as a business platform.

1. Apps and business processes go mobile
2. Mobile networks and devices gain more power

The list above (especially the themes) really hit home with me.  I like the list and plan on using this list as input into my 2010 Trends report I'll be delivering in January.

For more information, you can

• Get the report “The Top 15 Technology Trends Enterprise Architects Should Watch”  (Fee applicable). 
• Listen to the Nov. 4, 2009 teleconference at Top 15 Technology Trends EAs Should Watch (Fee applicable).
• Download slides used in the teleconference. (Free)

A Primer on 3D Printing

Although 3D printing has been around for a number of decades, the quality has increased dramatically in recent years and the prices are just beginning to drop, making it much more affordable for small and medium businesses.  And if you really want to explore 3D printing, they are even getting cheap enough for consumers to own.

The reality is 3D printing is a very cost-effective way to have an in-house rapid prototyping capability.  For a relatively modest investment, design engineers can use a 3D printer to catch design flaws earlier in the process lowering costs and shortening design cycles.

What is 3D Printing?

3D printing involves having the computer sending the coordinates for a 3D object to an output device (a 3D Printer) that employs the same ink-jet printer principle that is used to print on paper.  However, in this case the ‘printer’ deposits successive layers of material to build up a full-scale 3D model.   The material used can be powder, plastics, resins or even metals. 

In the case of powder, the printer is actually delivering ultra-thin layers of powder onto a surface, one on top of another, until it produces a 3D model.  With each successive run of the ‘printer head’, the powder that is deposited is then given a spray of a binding liquid that' helps to harden the powder and help form a solid object. 

The end-result of this process might be a model which designers can use to verify a product’s design qualities before full-scale manufacturing begins, or it might be an end-use specialty product ranging from a component in a complex aircraft engine to a consumer medical  or dental implant.

The big benefits of 3D printing is it’s low cost and speed.  The printers can generally produce models in as little as one-tenth the time it takes other types of machines.  3-D Printer-produced models are throwaway models that allow you to see things you would not be able to see as well on a computer with a CAD system.  The beauty of this approach is people can hold the proposed design, study it, and get a good feel for its shape.

Video Introduction to 3D-Printing

The video below (just under 4 minutes) is a promotional video, but it really is one of the best videos I’ve seen that can help you understand what 3D printing is and how it could be used in an office environment.  The video is from the Z Corporation and it promotes the company’s ZPrinter 450.  While Z Corporation products are out of the price range for most individual users, they represent amazing technology that is commercially available to anyone.

It is doubtful that this new generation of 3D printers can replace traditional manufacturing methods such as injection molding, machined or milled parts and manufacturing line assembly.  However I do believe that small and medium specialty manufactures should consider implementing 3D printing processes for individual steps or subsystems in a traditional line manufacturing process.  It is very possible that these new low cost printers would help reduce overall manufacturing costs.

For More Information

Wikipedia has a nice article on 3D printing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing).  And the site Fab@Home has lots of good information.  For those of you wanting to learn more about products and services out on the market, here are a few vendor sites to visit

• Desktop Factory  Makes a very small and affordable printers that truly fit on top of a desk.
• 3D Systems   Provides mid-range solutions that employ a technology that film transfers photopolymer to build 3-D objects
• Z Corp  Is widely thought of as providing top of the line printers for an office environment

Friday Gadget: The Spruce Whale – An aircraft we’ll see in 2095?

I’ve been doing these Friday gadget posts for almost three years now.  For me, these Friday gadget posts are not only about having fun on a Friday, but have always been about imagining the future.  What types of products will future generations have that will make their life easier?  In addition, how will emerging technologies play?

For this week’s post, I found a concept by designer Reindy Allendra for an aircraft we might see in 85 years.  Randy calls it the WB-1010 but affectionately also calls it the Spruce Whale (named after the famous Spruce Goose).  He’s entered the design into a KLM design contest.

According to the design specs, the WB-1010 (named after the Wright Brothers)  will be constructed from material made of thin layers of metal and glass fibre. Other featured include:

• Ability to harvest wind energy into electricity.
• An extractable robotic stand would also be used during the craft’s vertical landings.
• Seats for more than 1500 people.
• It can reach speeds of over 600mph
• Helium injected in the body makes the plane lighter

For more, see Randy’s post at Yanko Design here http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/10/14/the-spruce-whale/

Friday Gadget: Concept for a Harley in 2020

What will a Harley look like in 2020?   That’s what designer Miguel Cotto wanted to explore.   His resulting design is sleek and robotic. 

The 2020 Harley design is Cotto’s attempt to fast forward 10 years.   According to Cotto, the 2020 Harley will still have a large 883cc engine, with that solid brand sound of high revs and roars, but the traditional road hog will look entirely different.  Missing are today’s handlebars and spoke wheels.  The wheel hubs are said to be giant bearings.  And you can’t miss thinking that the orange color represents total transformation.

More pictures at Harley Davidson Circa 2020, which is on the Yanko Design website.  Yanko Design is a site that encourages designers to explore designs for the future.  If you spend some time on Yanko’s website, you’ll see there are all sorts of concept designs.

To me, this is more like a 2060 (or maybe even a 2100) design than a 2020 design.  From a technology perspective, I seriously doubt that embedded sensors, robotics, AI, and nanotechnology that looks to be a part of this whole design will be ready by 2020.  And from a brand image perspective, I don’t see Harley making such radical changes to their design over the next ten years…but perhaps you could make a case for 50 years from now. 

Want to get a feel for what it would be like to ride one of these things?  Check out the Official Tron Legacy Trailer and go for a 3 minute ride.

Joint IBM and Forrester Research Webinar: The Emergence of the Smarter Home

I heard through the grapevine about an upcoming webinar this week on the topic of Smart Home and thought I’d pass on the news to you.

The idea of embedded intelligence in the home is certainly not new, but the cost of chips and special sensors keep coming down.  And as broadband networks are almost commonplace, The promise of the smart home is now coming to reality.  Smart devices connecting to services in the network enable a large range of new applications that can make our lives easier, safer, more economical, and healthier.  From increased entertainment choices to medical monitoring, remote security monitoring and management and energy management, these new services can enrich our lives.

There’s also an emerging market for service providers who can gain valuable intelligence and efficiencies by aggregating data in the network.  The most promising approach uses cloud technology in the network to provide the intelligence for the smart home.

The webinar features speakers from both IBM and Forrester Research and should provide a series of informative presentations and a lively round table discussion addressing technology trends, consumer demand, and the revenue opportunities for new services that enable the smarter home.

Topics to be covered during the webinar include:

• How connectivity, intelligent appliances, smart TV, medical devices, enhanced security, etc. are coming together to revolutionize the home
• About the growth opportunities not only for electronics manufacturers, but also for the media & entertainment, telecommunications, and energy & utility industries.
• How the barriers to expansion will fall!

Featured Speakers:

• Bruce A. Anderson, General Manager, Global Electronics Industry, IBM Corporation
• Charles Golvin, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.
• Scott Burnett, Strategy & Business Development Director of IBM’s Digital Convergence Group

Details

• When:  October 15, 2008   9:00 am - 10:30 am EDT
• Target Audience:    Electronics Industry C-Level and LOB Senior Executives
• How to register:   Everyone must register to participate in the webcast. Click here to register for the webcast!

Enjoy!

Singularity Summit: My Index To The Content

(Nov. 3 Update:  Videos of presentations are now available at :  http://www.vimeo.com/7320820)

The Singularity Summit (http://www.singularitysummit.com/) happened last weekend in NY.  You can check out what this conference was all about by watching the promo video.  During the two days of the conference there were over 30 speeches and panels.  Around 800 people attended. 

I could not attend (no travel budget), but I really did not need to.  As it turns out Blogging and Twittering is alive and well.  There’s a flood of information available for consumption.  You just have to search for it.   So I did do the searches…and having done so, I thought I’d share with you what I found. 

There were a few key bloggers who were liveblogging the event, including Ari Schulman (covered for The New Atlantis), Stuart Fox (covered for PopSci), David Wood (covered for dw2), Benjamin Peterson(covered for Sentient Developments), and Lisa Rein (covered for h+ magazine).  Ari Schulman did the best job.

Below you will find the agenda of the event as sourced from the Singularity site peppered with URL links to blog posts and other content that can provide you with opinions and key summaries from the individual speakers.  From what I can read, there will be videos posted at some point in the future of most if not all of the talks.  If and when that happens, I will post those links here as well.

Saturday, October 3

9:00 am  - Introduction - Michael Vassar, Singularity Institute

9:05 am  - Shaping the Intelligence Explosion - Anna Salamon, Singularity Institute

• Blog Post by Stuart Fox: Singularity Summit 2009: Open The Pod Bay Door, HAL
• Blog Post by David Wood:  Shaping the intelligence explosion
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein   Singularity Summit - Anna Salamon On Shaping the Intelligence Explosion

9:35 am  - Technical Roadmap for Whole Brain Emulation - Anders Sandberg, Future of Humanity Institute

• Blog Post by Benjamin Peterson:  SS09: Anders Sandberg "Whole Brain Emulation"
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein   Singularity Summit - Anders Sandberg and Randal Keone On Whole Brain Emulation

10:00 am  - The time is now: As a species and as individuals we need whole brain emulation  -  Randal Koene, Fatronik-Tecnalia Foundation

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  "We need whole brain emulation"
• Blog Post by Benjamin Peterson:  SS09: Randal Koene "The Time is Now We Need Whole Brain Emulation"
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein   Singularity Summit - Anders Sandberg and Randal Keone On Whole Brain Emulation

10:25 am  -  Technological Convergence Leading to Artificial General Intelligence  -  Itamar Arel, University of Tennessee

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  "Technological Convergence Leading to Artificial General Intelligence"
• Blog Post by Benjamin Peterson:  SS09: Itamar Arel "Technological Convergence Leading to AGI"
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein:  Singularity Summit - Itamar Arel on Artificial General Intelligence

11:10 am  -  Pathways to Beneficial Artificial General Intelligence: Virtual Pets, Robot Children, Artificial Bioscientists, and Beyond  -  Ben Goertzel, Novamente

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  "Pathways to Beneficial Artificial General Intelligence"
• Blog Post by Benjamin Peterson:  SS09: Goertzel, Hameroff
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein  Singularity Summit - Ben Goertzel on AGI, AI in Virtual Worlds, and AI in Bioinformatics

11:35 am  -  Neural Substrates of Consciousness and the 'Conscious Pilot' Model  -  Stuart Hameroff, University of Arizona

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  "Conscious Pilot" talk doesn't take flight
• Blog Post by Benjamin Peterson:  SS09: Goertzel, Hameroff

11:55 am   -  Quantum Computing: What It Is, What It Is Not, What We Have Yet to Learn   -  Michael Nielsen

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  On quantum computing (and consciousness)
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein   Singularity Summit - Michael Nielsen's Quantum Computing 101

12:35 pm   -  DNA: Not Merely the Secret of Life  -  Ned Seeman, New York University

• Could not find anyone who blogged this session.  Check out the Twitter section at end of this post for the Twitter feed.

Lunch Break as blogged by Ari N. Schulman:  Liveblogging the Singularity Summit

2:20 pm   -  Compression Progress: The Algorithmic Principle Behind Curiosity, Creativity, Art, Science, Music, Humor   -  Juergen Schmidhuber, IDSIA

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Asking too much of "compression"

3:00 pm   -  Conversation on the Singularity  -  Stephen Wolfram and Gregory Benford

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Stephen Wolfram's alternate dimensions
• Blog Post by Stuart Fox:   Singularity Summit 2009: Supreme Mathematics of Gods and Earths

3:30 pm   -  Simulation and the Singularity  -  David Chalmers, Australian National University

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Simulation and the Singularity
• Blog Post by Stuart Fox:  Singularity Summit 2009: Just How's This Thing Gonna Work, Anyways?
• Blog Post by David Wood:  The Leakproof Singularity and Simulation

4:15 pm   -  Choice Machines, Causality, and Cooperation  -  Gary Drescher

• Could not find anyone who blogged this session

5:05 pm  -  Synthetic Neurobiology: Optically Engineering the Brain to Augment Its Function  -  Ed Boyden, MIT Media Lab

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  Boyden bunts
• Blog Post by Benjamin Peterson:  SS09: Ed Boyden

5:30 pm   -  Foundations of Intelligent Agents   -  Marcus Hutter, Australian National University

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: "Foundations of Intelligent Agents"

5:55 pm   -  Cognitive Ability: Past and Future Enhancements and Implications  -  William Dickens, Northeastern University

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Enhancing cognitive abilities

6:30 pm  -  The Ubiquity and Predictability of the Exponential Growth of Information Technology  -  Ray Kurzweil, Kurzweil Technologies

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  He walks among us
• Blog Post by Stuart Fox:  Singularity Summit 2009: Thus Spake Kurzweil
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein   Singularity Summit - Ray Kurzweil On Quantum Computing In The Brain and Consciousness

 

Content providing a summary of Day 1 

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  One day closer to the Singularity
• Blog Post by Suzanne Gildert  Singularity Summit 2009 Day 1
• Blog Post by Marshal Sponder  Singularity Summit Recap – Day 1 October 3rd 2009 NYC
  

Sunday, October 4th

8:00 am -  More than Moore: Comparing Forecasts of Technological Progress  -  Bela Nagy, Santa Fe Institute

• Could not find anyone who blogged this session, but here are a few comments from Twitterland.
  • sandysantra: #SS09 Bela Nagy, Santa Fe Institute, comparing prediction methodologies of Moore, Goddard, Wright, Wright, Sinclair, Nordhaus.
  • vangeest: Sinclair better forecasting model than Moore's Law #ss09
  • sandysantra: #SS09 Day 2 attendees are getting the most hardcore statistical analysis (by Bela Nagy) that they've seen yet. 3-D "error mountain" graph!
  • Sarah_Hines: Nagy argued convincingly we should switch to a different functional form--wish he had talked a bit on the implications of switching. #ss09
  • danothebeach: Nagy has very interesting comparison between various predictors of growth #ss09
  • fboosman: couldnt get excited about Nagy's #ss09 talk. Any straight line on an exponential graph is still exponential growth.

8:20 am   -  The "Petaflop Macroscope"  -  Gary Wolf, Wired Magazine

• Could not find anyone who blogged this session, but here are a few comments from Twitterland.
  • scottburck: Gary Wolf on the Macroscope and crowdsourcing health & science @#ss09
  • sandysantra: #SS09 Does anyone know where we can get a list of all these sites Gary Wolf is telling us about?
  • Sarah_Hines: @sandysantra http://www.quantifiedself.com/ will have a lot of them, but not aggregated. #ss09
  • vangeest: amazing, real time conversational emotional analysis #ss09
  • sandysantra: #SS09 Gary Wolf is the first person to get close to discussing Singularity overlap with Semantic developments.
  • Sarah_Hines: Wolf's presentation made me happy. I want to see him speak again in more depth. Anyone know if he has presentations available online? #ss09

8:40 am   -  Collaborative Networks In Scientific Discovery  -  Michael Nielsen

• Could not find anyone who blogged this session, but here are a few comments from Twitterland.
  • troed: M Nielsen on collaborative science. This is how we'll create new exponentials. #ss09
  • sandysantra: #SS09 Michael Nielsen on crowdsourcing, with some amazing insights on development of Linux, Wikipedia, and crowdsourcing math problems.
  • dw2: Michael Nielsen reviews Fields medallist Tim Gowers experiment in collaborative mathematics & open source methods to advance science #ss09
  • ENextMag: Michael Nielsen, quantum maestro, concludes with the all-important question for evolutionaries: "How can cultural change be achieved?" #ss09
  • Sarah_Hines: Most excellent overview of open source/crowd-sourced scientific collaborations by Neilson. Would like to rewatch when published #ss09.

9:00 am   -  How Does Society Identify Experts and When Does It Work?   -  Robin Hanson, George Mason University

• Could not find anyone who blogged this session, but here are a few comments from Twitterland.
  • sandysantra: #SS09 Robin Hanson opens his talk with a drive-by attempt to define the Singularity--first speaker to get even close.
  • positiveneuro: "Don't expect academics to study your 'silly' question if it makes them look less impressive to their colleagues." -Robin Hanson #ss09
  • j2d3: #ss09 hansom skewers academia: knowledge production merely a side effect; academia primarily concerned with narcissistic affiliations
  • sandysantra: #SS09 Robin Hanson takes the biggest risk of the summit yet: taking to task academia head-on.
  • Sarah_Hines: This morning's lineup has been good. Hanson added something new to the conversation. #ss09 (will want to rewatch this presentation on video)

9:20 am   -  Future of Scientific Method Panel -  Gary Wolf, Michael Nielsen, Robin Hanson. Moderator: James Jorasch

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Make scientists cooperate to usher in the Singularity?

10:15 am  -  Artificial Biological Selection for Longevity  -  Gregory Benford, University of California- Irvine

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Gregory Benford on living longer

10:40 am   -  Critics of the Singularity  -  Ray Kurzweil, Kurzweil Technologies

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  Kurzweil and his critics

11:10 am   -  The Finger of AI: Automated Electrical Vehicles and Oil Independence  -  Brad Templeton, Electronic Frontier Foundation

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Robo-cars and energy independence

1:15 pm   -  The Fallibility and Improvability of the Human Mind  -  Gary Marcus, New York University

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  Remembering, forgetting, and improving our minds
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein  Singularity Summit - Gary Marcus On The Fallibility and Improvability of the Human Mind

1:40 pm  -  Macroeconomics and Singularity  -  Peter Thiel, Clarium Capital Management

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  Notes from Peter Thiel’s Singularity Summit Talk
• Blog Post by Lisa Rein  Singularity Summit - Peter Thiel On His Single Greatest Fear
• Blog Post by Peter Vander Auwera:  Peter Thiel and the Singularity

2:20 pm   -  Venture Capitalist Panel: Peter Thiel, David Rose, Mark Gorenberg. Moderator: Robert Pisani

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  Investing in the Singularity?

3:15 pm   -  The Singularity and the Methuselarity: Similarities and Differences  Aubrey De Grey, SENS Foundation

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: Methuselah speaks

3:40 pm  -  Cognitive Biases and Giant Risks  -  Eliezer Yudkowsky, Singularity Institute

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  Rationalism, risk, and the purpose of politics

4:10 pm  -  Discussion: Eliezer Yudkowsky, Aubrey De Grey, Peter Thiel. Moderator: Michael Vassar

• Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman: On persuasion and saving the world

4:40 pm   -  How much it matters to know what matters: A back of the envelope calculation  -  Anna Salamon, Singularity Institute

Blog Post by Ari N. Schulman:  "How much it matters to know what matters"

Day 2 Summaries

• Blog Post by Kris Notaro:  Singularity Summit Coverage - Day 2
• Blog Post by Suzanne Gildert  Singularity Summit 2009 day 2 – some thoughts

Conference Recaps

Content that provides a review of the whole conference

• Blog Post by Tim Huston  Live from New York: The Singularity Summit
• Blog Post by Stuart Fox:  The Faces of Singularity: Are You Ready For The Human-Robot Merge?
• Blog Post by Julien Hamonic  Most Valuable Memes of The Singularity Summit '09
• Blog Post by David Orban Guest Post: David Orban Reviews Singularity Summit 2009
• Blog Post by Ulrike Reinhard  Singularity Summit 2009
• Blog Post by Courtney Boyd Myers  Man vs. Machine: The Singularity Summit 2009
• Blog Post by Ronald Bailey  Will Our Robot Overlords Be Friendly?
• News Article at Popular Mechanics   What Does a Beer Taste Like After the Singularity

Videos 

• This link provides some short interview/ clips http://singularitysummit.magnify.net/playlist/Singularity-Summit-2009-Videos
• From what I can read, there will be videos posted at some point in the future of most if not all of the talks.  If and when that happens, I will post those links here as well. (Nov. 3 Update:  Videos of presentations are now available at:  http://www.vimeo.com/7320820)

Twitter 

• See microblogging captured by Dave Urban at Live blogging the Singularity Summit 09  and  Singularity Summit Day 2

In Closing

The conference organizers made a feeble attempt to launch a Facebook page for the event.  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103667444558&ref=mf.  It looks like it never took off.

If I hear of anything else, I will update this post (Nov. 3 Update:  Videos of presentations are now available at :  http://www.vimeo.com/7320820)