Venessa Harrison, president of AT&T North Carolina and a big advocate of broadband, will be among the speakers at WRAL TechWire’s “Fiber Transforms the Triangle” conference at SAS. AT&T also is the provider for the emerging North Carolina Next Generation Network.

The half-day is focused on how the arrival of gigabit Internet access to homes and small businesses along with fiber-optic networks for larger enterprises and network infrastructure will transform the way we live, work, learn and play.

MCNC and AT&T are the co-sponsors.

“Fiber Transforms the Triangle,” a WRAL TechWire Executive Exchange event, is being hosted by SAS. SAS, the world’s largest privately held software company, was one of the first firms to embrace the Internet’s potential.

Other executives from MCNC, including CEO Pat Moody,  and AT&T as well as the City of Wilson, NeoNova, Frontier Communications, the City of Cary and the North Carolina Next Generation Network also will be speaking and taking part in panel discussions.

Keith Collins, chief information officer at SAS, is among the featured speakers.

Other participants will be announced shortly.

Blair Levin, former chief of staff at the Federal Communications Commission and a recognized international authority on broadband networks, will be the keynote speaker. Collins will make introductory remarks and introduce Levin.

Harrison was named AT&T’s state president in March 2013. She had served as Regional Vice President of External Affairs. Harrison is responsible for public policy, economic development and community affairs activities.

A native of North Carolina, Harrison has worked for AT&T and predecessor companies for 33 years. She began her career in Operator Services. She is a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a degree in business administration.

Under Harrison’s leadership, AT&T was selected by the North Carolina Next Generation Network consortium to build a fiber-optic network that will cover much of the Triangle and parts of the Triad.

 

The lineup

Joe Freddoso, former chief executive officer at MCNC, which built the state’s first statewide fiber-optic network, will moderate a panel discussion featuring service providers. They will discuss what their networks offer for commercial and consumer clients and detail the timeline for change in the Triangle.

Another panel will discuss how businesses, from startups to healthcare providers, can cash in on the coming wave.

Bill Stice of the City of Cary will discuss the North Carolina Next Generation Network. 

Mark Johnson, chief technology officer at MCNC and a former executive with Internet 2, also is part of the speaker lineup.

Investor and former telecommunications executive Steve Vanderwoude will be offering his insight as well.

Nick Otto, SAS IT Senior Manager, also will be participating in the event as a panelist. Otto is focused on our global hosting and cloud services, specifically managing all third party interactions with companies such as Google and Amazon.

Each speaker and panel will take questions and there will be time for networking with other WRAL TechWire Insiders.

How to get tickets

Current WRAL TechWire Insider annual subscribers were sent a promotional code via email on Aug. 18 to register without charge. If you did not receive that email, please contact Marketing@WRAL.com to receive your code. Those who register online for this event at the general admission $49 rate will receive a code via email for an annual WRAL TechWire Insider subscription.

You can attend this high-powered event for the price of $49.

The ticket makes you an annual subscriber to WRAL TechWire, the only news site in the Triangle focused exclusively on high-tech, life science, venture capital and fund raising, economic development and startups. From the newest companies to global players such as Red Hat, SAS, Lenovo, Quintiles, GSK, Cree and IBM, WRAL TechWire publishes exclusive and comprehensive content every business day.

(Visit WRAL TechWire’s Insider Benefits page for a full list of what subscribers receive as part of their membership in addition to news reporting.)

To obtain your ticket and a WRAL TechWire Insider subscription or to get your free ticket as a current subscriber, go to our EventBrite website.