DCWEEK Opening Keynotes kicked off at the historic Warner Theater, a major cultural center for Washington, DC to a packed house. To mark the occasion, we were pleasantly surprised to be joined by DC Mayor, Vincent C. Gray who commended Washington DC for our innovation and growing tech community. Mayor Gray recognized that as DC tech companies thrive in the area this will translate into more jobs for residents, a more diversified economy, a bigger tax base and more local expertise from which to draw upon as the city progresses. The Mayor’s plan to expand tech in DC and support innovation is three fold:
- He has assigned staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development specifically to tech growth.
- He is meeting regularly with tech leaders (such as CEOs of companies like HelloWallet) to get their ideas and input on DC as a tech center.
- He is exploring what kinds of incentives help spur tech growth such as the District Tax Incentives Available For High Tech Companies
To expand the tech community in DC we will need a lot of innovative ideas. The Opening Keynote Speakers for DCWEEK know a thing or two about innovation so we asked them, “what does innovation mean to you” and this is what they had to say:
Scott Kelly, Digital Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company
Scott Kelly, Ford
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhB_36ecqlg (Watch Video Here)
Brian Solis, marketing executive, author, principal at Altimeter
Genevieve Bell, Director of Interaction and Experience Research at Intel Labs
Krish Prabhu, President and CEO of AT&T Labs
Frank Warren, Creator of Post Secret, Author of PostSecret: Confessions of Life, Death and God
