Competitiveness Conversations Across America: Tennessee — Redefining Place and Building the Future Innovation Ecosystem for Mobility, Energy & Manufacturing
Friday, April 26, 2024 7:30 - 8:30 am CT: Registration & Breakfast 8:30 am - 12:15 pm CT: Competitiveness Conversation, Day 2
Thursday, April 25, 2024
12:00 P.M. Registration
1:10 P.M. Putting Competitiveness in Context – Challenges and Opportunities for 2024
Leadership will share the policy vision for the “Competitiveness Conversations Across America” — under the auspices of the Council on Competitiveness “National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers” — in context of the economic, global, and political realities facing the State and the United States in 2024.
Daniel Diermeier Chancellor, Vanderbilt University
Donde Plowman Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Deborah L. Wince-Smith President and CEO, Council on Competitiveness
1:30 P.M. The Pillars of Innovation: Deploying Tech-based Innovation at Speed and Scale, Accelerating the Future of Sustainability, and Defining the Future of Work and the Workforce
Leaders explore the key pillars of innovation as articulated in the Council’s “National Commission on Innovation & Competitiveness Frontiers” — highlighting both key challenges and opportunities in the State, as well as suggesting best practices to scale nationally, with a goal of dramatically increasing the nation’s innovation capacity and capabilities.
Robert Carter Executive Vice President, FedEx Information Services; Chief Information Officer of FedEx Corporation
Pablo Di Si President & CEO, Volkswagen Group of America; CEO of Volkswagen Brand North American Region
Paolo Ferrari BSAM Executive Chairman, Bridgestone West CEO; Bridgestone Corporation J GCOO
Jérémie Papin Chairperson, Nissan Americas; Member of the Global Executive Committee & Sr. Vice President, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
MODERATED BY: Dan Helfrich Chair and CEO, Deloitte Consulting LLP
2:15 P.M. Redefining “Place” in the 21st Century: Broadening and Deepening Tennessee’s Innovation Ecosystem
As competition in the global innovation landscape intensifies, there is a growing urgency to capitalize on untapped talent, technology, investment, and infrastructure. To boost competitiveness, the United States — and Tennessee — must focus on expanding and deepening both the demography and the geography of innovation, meaningfully engaging different communities and diverse populations as workers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and beneficiaries.
Jamari Brown Director of Economic and Community Development, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
Tim Kelly Mayor, City of Chattanooga
Indya Kincannon Mayor, City of Knoxville
Ted Townsend President & CEO, Greater Memphis Chamber
MODERATED BY: Chad Evans Executive Vice President, Council on Competitiveness
The future of innovation will rely increasingly on integrated, multidisciplinary, and multidomain partnerships that span and connect research, development, and deployment of new technologies at scale. This panel is a case study on Tennessee’s bid to connect, compute, power, fuel, and lead.
Donde Plowman Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
8:40 A.M. Powering Tennessee’s Future — Leveraging the State’s Energy Portfolio to Build and Advance Industries
This leadership panel will explore the energy productivity-driven renaissance in research, services, and manufacturing across the State — and explore how leaders are creating and using an energy matrix to support growth across many industry sectors.
Brent Baker Vice President – Chief Customer and Innovation Officer, Nashville Electric Service
Jeff Lyash President & CEO, Tennessee Valley Authority
Katie Ottenweller Southeast Lead for Energy Policy & Markets, Google
Padma Raghavan Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, Vanderbilt University
Stephen Streiffer Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
MODERATED BY: Chad Holliday Chair Emeritus, Royal Dutch Shell; Chair Emeritus, Council on Competitiveness; Co-Chair, Mission Possible Partnership
9:30 A.M. Innovation Talks: Future of Energy
Brian Wirth Governor’s Chair Professor for Computational Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
9:45 A.M. Innovation Talk: Tech Continuum Across the State — Urban to Rural
Michael Aikens Founding Director, Center for Rural Innovation; Chair, Rural Reimagined Grand Challenge, Office of Research and Economic Development at Tennessee Technological University
10:00 A.M. Taking Tennessee’s Talent to the Next Level — Mobilizing the State’s Workforce for a More Innovative Future
This leadership panel will explore the talent conundrum. Hailed as the State’s greatest asset and in many ways its greatest challenge, ensuring Tennessee has the skilled workforce to prosper in an increasingly turbulent local, state, national, and global economy is the critical competitiveness challenge. Lessons learned here can also inform national strategies for building the most agile and resilient workforce of the 21st century.
Joe Bales Vice President for University Advancement, Middle Tennessee State University
Bill Hardgrave President, University of Memphis
Jothany Reed Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Tennessee Board of Regents
Deniece Thomas Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
MODERATED BY: Liliana Ramirez Director of Workforce Development, Ford Motor Company
11:30 A.M. Mapping the Enabling Conditions for Tennessee’s Competitiveness Strategy for the Next 25 Years
This leadership panel will examine the enabling conditions essential for Tennessee's competitiveness strategy over the next 25 years. As the state plans for its future economic growth and prosperity, it is important to identify and understand the key factors that will drive competitiveness in various sectors. The panel will explore the intersection of policy, infrastructure, education, innovation, and workforce development, aiming to provide insights into creating an environment conducive to sustainable economic advancement.
Randy Boyd President, University of Tennessee System
Daniel Diermeier Chancellor, Vanderbilt University
Stuart McWhorter Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Donde Plowman Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
MODERATED BY: Deborah Wince-Smith President and CEO, Council on Competitiveness
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