Earlier this month, members of our team attended South by SouthWest, one of the largest festivals and conferences in the country, celebrating the convergences of emerging tech, media, film, and music!
In addition to experiencing the diverse range of panels, activities, and interactive exhibits on display at SXSW, we supported OSB Partner and Innovation Strategist Ashley Touchton as she was invited to speak on the SXSW panel, “Who Will Benefit the Most From Drone Delivery?” Also featured on the panel were Tom Walker (DroneUp, Founder and CEO), Paul Davenport (Carilion Clinic, Vice President-Emergency Services & Care Management), and Jennifer Jolly (USA TODAY, Journalist).
Panel Members (left to right): Jennifer Jolly, Paul Davenport, Ashley Touchton, Tom Walker
As autonomous drone technology continues to mature, its applications in retail, food, and healthcare industries are of special interest to us at OSB. As the panel discusses, wide scale commercial drone adoption has unique capabilities to benefit the aging in-place population, people in rural/remote areas, suburban communities, and people in crisis.
For the OSB team, conferences such as SXSW are an invaluable opportunity to meet and learn from a global community of fellow innovators.
“In addition to getting to see our colleague Ashley on a panel, which was the high point, SXSW was a good place to take in a broad range of ideas quickly. I heard insights about ecosystem building from Detroit’s Black Tech Saturdays, Singapore’s approach to technology testing in their airport and Buffalo’s approach to strengthening their ecosystem through providing entrepreneurs with a relocation concierge.”
— Meaghan Kennedy, Founder
“SXSW was such an amazing opportunity to hear from thought leaders across a wide variety of industries and make connections with innovative thinkers I wouldn’t have otherwise had the chance to meet. It felt like such a special environment where you were surrounded by people absolutely thriving in their respective fields, from AI to mobility and all of the incredible musicians and filmmakers as well.
— Hannah Ranieri, Innovation Strategist
Listen to the panel discussion to hear Ashley and other panel members’ insights on the future of drone delivery at the link here.
Written by Amy Qu, Innovation Strategist
