Visionary Technologist revolutionizing agriculture to Speak at 2017 Georgia Technology Summit

Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) today announced that Caleb Harper principal investigator and director of the Open Agriculture (OpenAG) Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, will be one of the keynote speakers at the annual Georgia Technology Summit on March 23, 2017.

Many people say they want to impact the world. Caleb Harper is actually doing it – by changing how we grow food to feed and nourish the 9 billion people of 2050.

An engineer turned urban farmer, Harper is working to reverse the global food crisis by revolutionizing agriculture as we know it. At MIT, he leads a diverse team of engineers, architects, urbanists, economists and plant scientists in the exploration and development of future food systems. Together they are innovating what Harper dubs the “Food Computer” – a disruptive, open-source, scalable, controlled-environment agriculture technology platform. The technology exists now; it’s rapidly evolving and quickly finding support in companies, public schools and in warehouses already stacked with it (vertical farms). Harper’s provocative and engaging TED Talk on the “computer that will grow your food” has garnered more than 1.3 million views in just a few short months.

Harper – a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and member of the World Economic Forum New Vision for Agriculture Transformation Leaders Network – focuses his research in the areas of controlled environment design, actuated sensing, control automation and data-driven resource, energy and biologic optimization. His work has been featured by top publications, including TIME, WIRED, The Economist, National Geographic, The Smithsonian, Popular Science and IEEE, and is increasingly drawing the interest and investment of global financing firms. Government and world leaders, and scientists and scholars alike are visiting Harper’s labs to see the implications first hand.

We are honored to have someone of Caleb’s caliber speaking at this year’s summit,” said Tino Mantella, TAG President/CEO. “For years we have been uniting the technology community, at the GTS, to celebrate and to inspire. It has grown to become one of the largest tech gatherings in the southeast.

The 2017 Georgia Technology Summit is expected to draw a crowd of more than 1,300 C-level executives, entrepreneurs, technology professionals and academia to celebrate and recognize Georgia’s technology community. In addition to presentations from some of the top technology influencers in the nation, forty new companies will be named to TAG’s Top 40 Innovative Companies and the newest member of the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia will be inducted.

For more information about TAG and the Georgia Technology Summit and to register for the event, visit:http://www.tagonline.org/events/georgia-technology-summit/

About The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)

TAG is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 33,000 members through regional chapters in Metro Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon/Middle Georgia, and Savannah. TAG’s mission is to educate, promote, and unite Georgia’s technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy.

The association provides networking and educational programs; celebrates Georgia’s technology leaders and companies; and advocates for legislative action that enhances the state’s economic climate for technology. TAG hosts over 200 events each year and serves as an umbrella organization for 33 professional societies. Additionally, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG’s charitable arm) focuses on helping science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives thrive.

For more information visit the TAG website at www.tagonline.org or TAG’s community website at www.hubga.com