Innovative May event to feature emerging technologies, leading freight news and insight, and key networking opportunities for industry leaders
For trucking industry and supply chain executives, the large number of industry events can quickly blend into another until none stand out. Attendees at the Transparency18 show, though, will not leave with that feeling.
FreightWaves, in partnership with the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology and the Blockchain in Transport Alliance, will be presenting the inaugural Transparency18 Future of Freight Conference, May 22-23, 2018, in Atlanta, GA, at the Georgia International Convention Center. The event promises to be unlike any previous trucking or logistics show.
Transparency18 will include a live demo of products and a day of leading industry speakers, sponsors and exhibitors, and more.
“Transparency18 is completely different than anything ever seen in FreightTech,” says Jeff Mason, Managing Director of FreightWaves. “We are borrowing formats seen in other industries such as financial services, that give the chance for early stage companies, investors, and established companies to actually experience the innovations first-hand rather than reading a Powerpoint. The format is much more immersive and will focus on the digitization of the industry. It’s an important opportunity for organizations and individuals to connect, learn, collaborate and ultimately impact the future of the industry.”
“Powerpoint sucks for most technology presentations. People actually want to experience the application first-hand and a pitch deck doesn’t give that opportunity, so we have banned it from our Demo Day. No vaporware. The format is a lot of fun and engaging because you get just enough to see a taste of the app, without having to sit through a long-winded presentation that is there to just fill time,” notes Craig Fuller, Managing Director of BiTA.
Mason points out that the demo presentations will go beyond blockchain and range from driver engagement apps, parking discovery apps, fuel price management, driver social media applicants, freight optimization, and price discovery and modeling applications. If you are an early stage company and want to get in front of 500 of the most powerful technology decision markers, investors, and influencers in this space, Transparency18 is the place to do just that. A few dozen investors and nearly 200 top technology and market thinkers have already signed up to attend.
Demo Day itself will take place on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, and feature 7-minute live presentations for companies to showcase their new or emerging technologies or products. The use of slides or Powerpoint presentations will not be allowed. Instead, live, simulated or video-assisted demonstrations will be required.
Companies interested in participating in Demo Day can submit an application through March 9, 2018. Once applications have been received, a selection committee will review the applications and choose the 40 who will be given the opportunity to present. Selection criteria will be based upon product relevance to the industry and timeliness (to market in less than 6 months) and whether it focuses on emerging, disruptive, and innovative technology solutions.
Presenters will be provided a product demo/networking station to discuss their solutions with attendees when not on stage. There will also be a press hour for presenting companies to meet with media attending the event. All presentations will be professional recorded and posted to the event website for post-event viewing.
A networking reception will be held following Demo Day for participants, sponsors and Transparency18 attendees.
Click to learn more about Demo Day
Day Two of Transparency18, on May 23, 2018, will feature industry-leading speakers and sessions featuring top Wall Street sell-side analysts from the trucking and logistics space; futurists covering subjects impacting the industry such as blockchain, autonomous vehicles, hyperloop, drones, and digitization; and market data and research on the impact of technology on the freight markets.
The morning will feature keynote speakers followed by afternoon breakout sessions focused on financial, technology and commercial tracks. Keynote speakers include author and thought-leader Tony Seba, futurist Jason Schenker, blockchain researcher Bettina Warburg, and business executive Don Tapscott.
Seba, a world-renowned author, thought leader, speaker, educator and entrepreneur, is the author of the Number-One Amazon best-selling book “Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation – How Silicon Valley Will Make Oil, Nuclear, Natural Gas, Coal, Electric Utilities and Conventional Cars Obsolete by 2030.” He is a co-founder of RethinkX, a think tank that focuses on technology disruption and its implications for society and co-author of “Rethinking Transportation 2020-2030.”
Schenker is the author of Jobs for Robots, a story about how robots and automation will be a part of our future. He is involved in the hyperloop and travels the world providing commentary and insights on the impact of technology on markets. He is an economist, author, speaker and the number-one ranked financial market futurist in the world. He is founder of Prestige Economics, a top-ranked financial market research firm and chairman of The Futurist Institute, which he founded in October 2016 to help analysts and economists become futurists.
Warburg is a blockchain researcher, entrepreneur, and educator, and co-founder of Animal Ventures, “a venture studio and consultancy focused on building startups, educating executives, and designing comprehensive strategies to help large companies, governments, and SMEs take advantage of some of the most advanced technology companies coming to market.” Animal Ventures’ practice areas include blockchain, the Internet of Things, augmented and artificial intelligence, and digital platforms.
Tapscott is author of “The Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business, and the World,” and CEO of the Tapscott Group. In the 1990s, he wrote about the potential of e-commerce and has been writing and speaking about digital privacy and transparency since the early 2000s.
In conjunction with Transparency18, the Blockchain in Transport Alliance will hold a membership meeting. Members do not have to attend Transparency18 to attend the BiTA meeting.
The Blockchain in Transport Alliance is a consortium of the foremost leaders in the trucking industry working towards developing industry standards for blockchain use. All companies within BiTA share a unified mission of developing a standards framework, educating the market on blockchain applications, and encouraging the use of said applications through exemplary implementation. To learn more about BiTA, visit www.bita.studio.
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