Dear Friends and Supporters,
In all that we do, we seek to cultivate opportunities to prepare students, policymakers, business leaders, and the broader community to lead in a world of rapid change. This year ahead is full of opportunity to deliver on that promise.
We will launch our new season with another in the line of thought-provoking discussions on wireless spectrum, “The Spectrum Hall of Shame,” which will explain the worst (and best) spectrum policy decisions and what we learn from them. This follows a tremendous output on spectrum policy leadership at Silicon Flatirons, with Pierre de Vries and Dale Hatfield (our initiative leaders) helping to set the agenda for the Technological Advisory Council (TAC) at the FCC, on which they both serve; Dale’s leadership as a member of the Commerce Spectrum Management Committee (CSMAC); and their path-marking leadership on risk assessment as a tool for spectrum policy. Building on this work, Blake Reid, working with faculty and students across campus, guided the Technology Law and Policy Clinic’s work on establishing the appropriate licensing for so-called “small satellites.”
Our Entrepreneurship Initiative reflects the incredible leadership of Brad Bernthal. In the fall of 2005, Brad joined Silicon Flatirons as a Fellow, co-teaching the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic with me. From that perch, he worked hard to make Silicon Flatirons a leader on our campus and in our community. This September 13th, our Entrepreneurs Unplugged series-now over a decade old-will celebrate the tremendous success of Techstars, whose growth took place at the same time as the Silicon Flatirons Entrepreneurship Initiative. And this October 18th we will examine, in our annual entrepreneurship conference, the “#GiveFirst” ethos that supports our successful startup community here in Colorado.
In addition to these conferences, we will continue to propel entrepreneurship on campus and in the community through hosting the New Venture Challenge Information Technology Track, the Crash Course series, Startup Colorado, the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, and the Governmental Entrepreneurial Leadership Accelerator (GELA).
This fall is also when Margot Kaminski, who joined us from Ohio State University to direct our Privacy and Cybersecurity Initiative, will make her first appearance and participate in our November 14th Law and Economics of Data conference. She joins, in addition to myself, our other faculty directors: Brad Bernthal (Entrepreneurship), Kristelia García (Content and Intellectual Property), and Blake Reid (Technology Policy). As noted above, Pierre de Vries and Dale Hatfield continue to lead our Spectrum Initiative.
Looking ahead to February 10-11th, we will host our annual technology policy conference and discuss “Internet Platforms’ Rising Dominance, Evolving Governance,” evaluating appropriate models of regulation and oversight. Once again, we will hold a series of cutting-edge conversations featuring leaders in government, academia, and industry. Please save the date.
As always, I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and concerns as we continue to pursue our mission of elevating the discourse in technology policy, supporting our students, and serving our local entrepreneurship community.
Cheers,
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Phil Weiser