Gary Shapiro, President & CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,200 consumer technology companies and which owns and produces the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the global stage for innovation.  Gary leads his organization’s promotion of innovation as a national policy to spur the economy, create jobs, and cut the deficit.  Gary discusses how to recover from disruption through innovation, it’s not the strongest, the fastest, it’s those who can adapt the quickest that survive – innovate or die!  Organizations need to be agile, nimble, and diverse and must preserve and encourage innovation because at the heart of all solutions is innovation. Gary discusses the important role of innovation and technology in solving societal issues in healthcare, transportation, food production, clean air, water, etc.  He believes disruptive innovation is the most important and in-person engagement, the opportunity to gather and keep an open mind is necessary for innovation to thrive.  Diversity is one of America’s great strengths!