State of Technology Luncheon

The State of Technology Luncheon is the premier annual event for Washington's innovation community. Approximately 800 people from business, research, education and government from across the state come together each year at the luncheon to celebrate our state's progress in building a vibrant innovation economy, discover the results of the Technology Alliance's latest work, and gain insights from world-renowned technology leaders and visionaries. The 2012 luncheon on May 22nd will feature John McAdam, President, CEO & Director of F5 Networks, Inc.

Held each spring since 1998, the State of Technology Luncheon is the Technology Alliance's largest annual event. Past luncheons featured keynote speakers Clay Christensen, bestselling author of The Innovator's Dilemma; the nation's first Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra; Internet pioneer Vint Cerf; Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; Amazon.com President, CEO and Chairman Jeff Bezos; and Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Washington Innovation Summit

Designed to focus on what really makes innovation economies grow, the Washington Innovation Summit is the must-attend event for our state's innovation-driven business and economic development community. This day-long conference was designed to identify new, effective strategies that will promote high-impact job growth and provide a framework for technology-based economic development in our state. On March 18th, more than 200 people convened at the 2011 Summit to discover how innovation is changing the enterprise and our economy and explore these key topics with leading technology, business and policy experts:

• How the state is fusing support for innovation into its overall economic development strategy;
• How emerging information technologies are dramatically changing our economy, presenting our state with new challenges as well as exciting new opportunities;
• How the very nature of the enterprise is evolving, and how we should respond; and
• How our industries can grow exports and strengthen global relationships.

Technology Institute

The Technology Institute is a biennial, invitation-only retreat that brings together leaders from Washington's state legislature, executive branch, technology businesses, and research and educational institutions to address key public policy issues affecting the technology sector. The most recent Institute, "Models of Success: Educating and Innovating for Washington's Economic Future," was held September 19-21, 2011 in Leavenworth, Washington.