This year NWA Tech Summit had a common theme woven throughout nearly every keynote… inspiration in unlikely places.
For example, did you know that Northwest Arkansas is the third fastest growing metro in the United States with a net 34 person growth every day?
So what does this mean? According to the top data scientist at Walmart it means we need a large percentage of those folks to be data scientist and digital innovators.
We heard a lot about the 4th Industrial Revolution and how we are still just getting started in the digital transformation of business and life. What do we do with that information? While that’s a hard question to answer this summit gave us powerhouse speakers with incredible insights on how change is impacting logistics, data, retail and more.
Powerhouse Speakers
Regarding the current technology landscape Rachel Mushahwar from Intel started with a very apropos quote:
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
Mike Tyson
Rachel then shared actionable, powerful data that affects every industry. We could not get enough of what she was saying about IoT, connected vehicles and the changes in usage by demographics. Pretty sure our CRO Ed Horton took a picture of every single slide in her deck.
The Impact of NWA Tech Summit
Obviously, we are uniquely positioned here in Northwest Arkansas to unprecedented access to knowledge thanks to our hometown Fortune 1 company, Walmart, and all the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) companies with offices, and therefore, extremely knowledgable staff in the area. What a great asset for those of us who work on a daily basis with clients all over the world who do not have direct access to these resources. Coming together at the Tech Summit to learn from one another and connect with each other is critical to growing the collective knowledge bank of Northwest Arkansas.
A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say.
“The biggest thrill for me is that so many people told me they made connections at the Summit that will further their business. That’s what this is about,” Debbie Griffin of the Greater Bentonville Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the NWA Tech Summit said. She went on to note that there were more speakers on stage this year, creating a more dynamic scope of knowledge for attendees.
