Pennsylvania’s Thriving Tech Ecosystem on Display
We love reporting on good news in Pennsylvania tech. And there’s a ton of it, as you can see here, here, here, here, here, and here. The recent annual KINBERCON conference focusing on public sector tech users certainly fits the bill.
Philadelphia is a vibrant tech market, with many leaders of their fields in pharma, finance, biotech, education, and beyond. But as we highlighted last month the rest of Pennsylvania punches above its weight in many of these sectors as well.
We saw that in play at KINBERCON, the annual conference that provides a forum to highlight the technological progress that is taking place in Harrisburg, York, Carlistle, Lancaster, Hershey, and beyond. There’s a wide variety of attendees, many from the public sector, and IT directors from large state agencies and universities are side by side with part-timers from small local libraries.
Many things that caught our eye at KINBERCON. Primary among them was the depth and diversity of the solutions and topics in the area of focus for the conference, which was that of digital inclusion and making sure the rising tide of tech advancement lifts all the boats in the Commonwealth.
One of the many presentations worthy of mention was KeystoneREN, which serves as Pennsylvania’s statewide hub for research and education networking. Researchers and academics benefit from the opportunity to work collaboratively, and the KeystoneREN platform reduces the friction of their interactions by providing a nexus for users to share their work and build on each other’s findings.
The photo attached to this article is Jennifer Oxenford presenting KeystoneREN’s services. In addition to their researcher engagement programs KeystoneREN offers cost-effective connectivity and tech services to underserved communities. Their ability to support a wide range of research initiatives is impressive.
The issue of inclusiveness was highlighted by Drew Garner of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Drew highlighted the importance of providing broadband access to all socioeconomic levels, which has a tangible impact on educational levels and future income. He introduced the concept of the human infrastructure of broadband, which refers to "the people and organizations who provide direct support to individuals to access affordable internet and devices and teach people the digital skills necessary to make use of connectivity and fully participate in modern society."
The presentations by Jennifer and Drew just scratch the surface of the fine work being done in the area of digital inclusiveness in the Keystone State. You can be confident that no dust is settling on the tech sector in our area, and the desire to make sure it benefits all Pennsylvanians was on display.
This was an event we were proud to sponsor. We’ll see you at KINBERCON again next fall and will be back sharing more good news from the vibrant Pennsylvania technology community soon.