Silicon Flatirons 2026 Flagship Conference
The communications technology landscape is increasingly unstable. The global race to harness agentic AI, general artificial intelligence, and quantum computing is emerging as the technology story of the decade (and, perhaps of the 21st century). At the same time, rapid innovation in radio spectrum and space-based communications is expanding connectivity’s frontier both on Earth and beyond. Together, these shifts promise to transform industries as – or more – profoundly as the internet revolution of a generation ago.
The benefits and harms of today’s technological changes, notably, are unevenly distributed. Emerging technology capabilities and a lagging regulatory framework create new divides. As AI advances, there are fault lines between regions, nations, and firms, as well as between those with access to computing power, data, and energy, and those without. There will be haves. And there will be have-nots.
These asymmetries raise urgent questions about access to advanced AI, big data, spectrum resources, and the privacy and security protections that accompany them. Scholarship and policy in recent decades have focused on the “digital divide.” But as the United States approaches universal broadband access, technology’s tectonic plates are shifting again. This new set of divides are global, structural, deeply complex, and only beginning to be addressed.
The 2026 Flagship Conference, entitled To Have and Have Not: Growing Asymmetries in Communications Technology, considers emerging gaps in technology access – and the impact of the collective regulatory landscape of local, state, federal, and international governance. The conference brings together scholars, policymakers, and industry leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the regulation of advanced technologies.
Through a combination of expert panels, our annual debate, and keynote addresses, the February 1–2, 2026 Flagship Conference will evaluate how dynamic technology advance and lagging policy are creating a landscape of emerging winners, likely losers, and ever-growing asymmetry.
Speakers to be announced.
Sessions
Day One Check In and Breakfast
@ Wolf Law Building, Foyer and Boettcher Hall
Attendees are welcome to check-in and enjoy a continental breakfast buffet before the day’s programming gets underway.
Welcoming Remarks
@ Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom & Livestream
Welcome Keynote
AI Market Forces – A New Gap in Technology Access?
Discussion will explore prevailing competitive dynamics and the emerging LLM oligopoly, as well as the role of industrial policy on the market. Will LLMs remain “open” for companies to build upon? Are we nearing the end of the Internet era of “innovation without permission”?
Break
Recognizing Student Leaders
Keynote
Lunch Break
@ Wolf Law Building, Schaden Commons
A catered lunch will be provided onsite.
The Administrative State and Technology Access
Discussion will explore how the current administrative state – in light of recent Supreme Court rulings, executive action, and uncertain independent agency and federal-state dynamics – impacts technology policy and access. Consider implications on the Universal Service Fund, the Federal Trade Commission, the Humphrey’s Executor precedent, and the Major Questions Doctrine.
Break
AI Privacy and Security – Access to Strong Protections
Discussion will explore the use of information by companies and its impact on end-user privacy and security – with focus on mounting issues related to user data and interface with AI and other emerging technologies.
Break
Silicon Flatirons Annual Writing Competition Award
Sponsored by WilmerHale
Fireside Chat: AI Boom or Bust: Lessons from the Telecom Bubble
Debate: Resolved: AI is More Open than the Internet
Reception
@ Wolf Law Building, Foyer and Boettcher Hall
After day one of the conference concludes, attendees and speakers are invited to Boettcher Hall for hors d’oeuvres, refreshments, and conversation.
Day Two Check In and Breakfast
@ Wolf Law Building, Foyer and Boettcher Hall
Attendees are welcome to check-in and enjoy a continental breakfast buffet before the day’s programming gets underway.
Welcome
@ Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom & Livestream
Keynote
Broadband Access – Priority Service, Alternative Technology, and Digital Inequity
Discussion will explore how federal policy changes impacting the BEAD and Digital Equity Act programs, as well as mounting RDOF defaults and mapping shortcomings challenge the policy goal of “Internet for All.”
Break
Keynote
Band Access – License to Build?
Discussion will explore how recent auction authority and federal policy may create a new round of winners and losers, particularly with regard to shared spectrum applications such as CBRS and DSS.
Closing Remarks
Lunch and Learn Option: Data Center Developments
@ Room TBA
To make the most of our time together, we are offering two lunch and learn sessions that will run concurrently following the plenary sessions on day two of the conference.
An expert panel discussion will explore the big race for big data, how dramatic increase in compute demand is pushing data center investment and energy consumption – and how tech firms, communities, electrical rate payers, and the environment each stands to win, or lose.
Lunch and Learn Option: Spectrum, Space, and Security
@ Room TBA
An expert panel discussion will examine autonomy, trust, and interference resilience, exploring growing concern over generally unregulated drone activity and, more broadly, regarding how policy can manage autonomy, airspace safety, and spectrum integrity in a rapidly evolving technology environment. Attention will focus on the immediate drone risk while expanding to include the underlying systems of trust and verification that all autonomous platforms depend upon.