Optimistic Outlook

True to Steve Jobs' prediction, the iPhone really did change everything. But was it the device itself...or apps that made the digital world easier to access for non-tech experts? This episode explores a tech breakthrough that happened 15 years after Jobs' famous consumer product release, when Siemens launched a digital business platform with a different purpose: to help innovators transform industry, infrastructure and transportation. She's joined by Marshall Van Alstyne, who wrote all about the rise of platforms in the consumer world (the book's called "Platform Revolution," and it's a bestseller) to show you how the app principles letting us put data into action with the click of a button now apply to managing machines, grids, and trains. Plus, Peter Koerte, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer at Siemens, joins to highlight how merging the real with the digital could be our secret weapon in the fight against climate change. Turns out, the next big tech revolution isn't coming to your devices, but to the physical world all around you.

Show notes:

Siemens Xcelerator Press Release: https://xcelerator.siemens.com/global/en.html

Platform Revolution: https://www.amazon.com/Platform-Revolution-Networked-Markets-Transforming/dp/0393249131

Peter’s article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digitalization-decarbonization-two-megatrends-each-other-peter-koerte/?trackingId=Sg8Tf%2BSWT0%2B%2BRNFwc0fwMg%3D%3D&linkId=300000002456347

Barbara visits a groundbreaking microgrid project in the South Side Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville. Features interviews with ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones and Paul Pabst, who leads ComEd’s Smart Grid department.

SHOW NOTES:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecvUf5sdOJs&list=PLF415F6CFBF8D6A91&index=2

Microgrids opportunities in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/bipartisan-infrastructure.html

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock joins Barbara to discuss a U.S. Conference of Mayors survey examining mayoral infrastructure priorities in facing an unprecedented health, economic and societal crisis due to COVID-19. They highlight how infrastructure and technology investments can generate new jobs and economic recovery while forging a new path for urban resilience.

Show notes: “Infrastructure, Technology and Mayors’ Priorities for Confronting a Health, Economic and Societal Crisis” https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/topic-areas/critical-infrastructure/us-conference-of-mayors.html

Are you curious about where the biggest tech innovations are happening in the clean energy transition? Are you aware that 2024 was a huge turning point for increased private sector investment? In this episode, Bill Gates and Barbara reveal all of this and much, much more. You'll discover which technologies are already scaling, where the biggest tech investors are focusing their resources in the coming years, and which innovations are solving the tricky problem of being profitable AND tackling climate change. You'll learn why 80% of breakthrough climate technologies are happening in the USA (it's not what you think), and how this key driver is creating career paths and business opportunities you can't afford to miss out on. Whether you're exploring new career opportunities, involved in energy policy or leadership, or just excited to hear about this bold new phase of the energy transition - this conversation between two innovators with a front-row seat to the future of climate tech is for you.

Show Notes:
State of the Transition Report - https://www.breakthroughenergy.org/newsroom/articles/bill-gates-state-of-transition/

Barbara's Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/us-innovation-igniting-clean-industrial-revolution-immense-humpton-alnae/

As vaccines shine a bright light through the darkest days of the pandemic, Barbara shares her thoughts on how we can begin the work of reopening America and building a more resilient future. Listeners will learn practical ways that technology can help us take steps and potential opportunities in 2021 to launch large-scale action to reinvent America’s infrastructure.

Show Notes:

• Resources: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/about/covid-19-coronavirus.html