Related link: http://www.wgrosso.com/emerging

Along with a couple of friends, I’m starting a new meeting group devoted to new and emerging technology. We’ll be meeting on the second Tuesday of every month, in Palo Alto. The first meeting is on Sept 10; and will feature R. Guha talking about the emerging data web.


For more information about our first meeting, please see the SDForum Description


I’ve enclosed a longer version of our group description below.

Silicon Valley is the home to a lot of innovative and interesting technologies. New ideas, and new ways of thinking about old ideas, are constantly being created. Which leads to a question: where do you go to find out about them? Well, if an idea is successful enough, the odds are that it will eventually have a SIG devoted to it. That’s what happened with the Internet (the Internet SIG, founded by Janice Carter in 1994). And that’s what happened with Java (the Java SIG, founded by Tom Hill in 1996). So, if you wanted to wait, you could just wait for the SIG.

But what if you didn’t want to wait? What if you wanted to find out about the Internet in 1992? Or Java in 1994? What if you wanted to find out about new and interesting technologies before they hit the mainstream, when they were still half-baked and the entrepreneurial opportunities were abundant (because, after all, Silicon Valley isn’t just about innovation. It’s also about founding startups).

That’s where the Emerging Technology Group comes into play. Founded by William Grosso (current chair of the Java SIG), with help from Tom and Janice, it’s a monthly meeting focused on the future. The goal is to talk about technologies that aren’t quite here yet, to discuss trends in software technologies, and, in general, to examine what’s coming down the pipeline.

Ambitious? Yes. Slightly Unfocused? That too. But we like it that way. And we think you’ll like it too. Here’s what we’re planning for the next three months: 

  • Sept 10. R. Guha, founder of E-pinions and currently a Research Scientist at IBM, will talk about the emerging Data Web.
  • October 8. Steve Bjorgan, VP Technology Development of France Telecom, will talk about what France Telecom thinks are strategic technologies over the next 2 to 3 years.
  • November 12. Peter Norvig, Director of Search Quality at Google, will talk about recent trends in programming languages.

The Emerging Technology Group. Meeting the second Tuesday of every month in the Palo Alto Area. Because, after all, it’s more fun to be ahead of the curve.

All meetings are free for SDForum members (and cost $15 for non-members).

What emerging technologies are you most interested in?