Innovation

One of the great barriers to technological innovation is that people become too comfortable with how things work. To break through, it's often necessary to overcome steep barriers to development and sometimes change public perceptions. This engaging panel will examine how these barriers have been surmounted through technical creativity, the exchange of ideas and challenging traditional modes of business. Representing a range of industries and specializations, the assembled experts will explain how they've harnessed new technologies to reach audiences traditionally considered out of reach.

Just when it seems that technology can't amaze us further, here comes a new batch of next-gen, gee-whiz projects en route to reality. Our panel of big thinkers opens a window on tomorrow. Have you heard of asteroid mining? Eric Anderson's company plans to probe space rocks for water and platinum group metals. Or how about John Kelly's vaunted IBM research team, tooling up its Watson technology (of "Jeopardy!" fame) to help sequence DNA and speed cancer treatment? Or Eric David's Organovo scientists developing printing capabilities to create living tissue--and even human organs--on demand? From the vastness of the cosmos to the microscopic foundations of life, this panel of visionaries points us to the marvels of the future.

Put down the iPad and pay attention: Technology may be rewiring your brain. Scientists say our ability to focus is being undermined by Twitter feeds, smartphones and other digital distractions. Many experts believe excessive use of technology can make users more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even narcissistic. It may reduce the ability to process information and think deeply and creatively. Distracted drivers have become a menace on the roads. Even worse, tech-obsessed parents spend less quality time with their children, causing not only hurt feelings but potentially stunting a child's vocabulary and development. At the same time, studies show Internet users are more efficient at finding information, and gamers develop better visual acuity. Is the technology that was intended to make us more productive actually dumbing us down? Is its use in the classroom counterproductive? How does it change our culture and society in general?

Fifty years ago, the Internet would have sounded like science fiction. Today it's not only a staple of daily life - but it's enabled the rate of innovation to accelerate beyond our wildest dreams. What amazing breakthroughs are currently being cooked up in R&D labs? Join us for some sneak previews and live demonstrations that are sure to leave you buzzing.

Join us for a wide-ranging, future-looking conversation about the inspiration, motivation and business processes behind PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, the Kitchen and the Kitchen Community. We will discover what drives the Musk brothers in their groundbreaking work, whether pioneering online payments, sending the first private rocket to the International Space Station, building electric cars with robots or rolling up their sleeves and partnering with students and educators to build gardens in impoverished communities. With the help of entrepreneur and philanthropist Jeff Skoll, we will uncover the richness of their creative process and discuss how to make a profit, create jobs and contribute to the broader community at the same time. Wait till you see what's around the corner.

This unique panel will explore unusual approaches to overcoming the limitations of available technology, and common approaches to fostering rapid innovation. The speakers, who have used technology to surmount traditional barriers in their fields, will discuss their process and thought framework as well as provide visual examples of how innovative, new technology can be applied in a practical, tangible fashion. Their presentations will focus on recent advances in their fields of research and building upon those for further progress.

They designed the first Apple mouse and created one of the first educational iPad apps. They developed a heart defibrillator that gives voice and visual instructions on how to use it. They're helping improve access to safe drinking water in the developing world. And now they've written the book "Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All." At this Milken Institute Forum, David and Tom Kelley - brothers who are the driving force behind the storied design firm IDEO - will discuss their book, their human-centered approach to design and the genesis of some of their favorite projects. In "Creative Confidence," these innovators argue that there's no such thing as haves and have-nots when it comes to creativity. Often squelched in childhood, creativity can be coaxed from adults if approached the right way. "Creativity is something you practice, not just a talent you're born with," the authors say. "The process may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but ... the discomfort quickly fades away and is replaced with new confidence and capabilities."

Speakers: Joe Cerrell, Director, Europe and Middle East, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Ryan Kavanaugh, Founder and CEO, Relativity Media Nanxi Liu, CEO, Enplug, Inc.; Founder, Nanoly Bioscience Geoff McGrath, Managing Director, McLaren Applied Technologies Saad Mohseni, Chairman and CEO, Moby Group Moderator: Karen Finney, Host, "Disrupt with Karen Finney," MSNBC. Audacious innovators are out to change the world. Risk-takers are turning classic business models upside down. Social-media prodigies are revolutionizing the workplace. These are the disruptors, innovators and entrepreneurs who keep reinventing society, and some of them will be on our panel to offer their perspectives and share their experiences. Why do many attempt, but one succeeds? How do you cross-pollinate to create something that's not just new, but groundbreaking? How do you conquer the challenges of health, technology, communications or finance to empower the community, sustain the planet and strengthen the bottom line? Join us for a conversation without boundaries.

Like the Mars rover, Charles Elachi's curiosity knows no bounds. Now director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he has spent his entire career as a modern-day Magellan. With the landing of the latest rover in August 2012, Elachi oversaw one of the most challenging engineering feats since the Apollo moon landing. "I could only think of the words of Teddy Roosevelt as I was sitting there: 'It is far better to dare mighty things that we know might fail than to stay in a twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.' And the team brought us victory," he said at a post-landing press conference. At this Milken Institute Forum, Elachi will discuss that particular victory, his storied career in space exploration and the remarkable work that JPL is doing as it monitors its existing 23 spacecraft across the solar system and prepares for the next generation.

MI Forum with Susan Feldman and Michael Jones. Moderated by Dana Settle. he City of Angels is suddenly the city of startups. After spending years in the shadow of Silicon Valley - and Boston and New York - Los Angeles finally has real tech cred. Say goodbye to startup envy and hello to the new entrepreneurs. The local tech community saw a flurry of activity in 2012: More than 220 startups launched in greater Los Angeles, 43 L.A.-based companies were acquired, and more than $870 million was raised from venture capital and angel investors. Overall, entrepreneurs in Southern California attracted more investment than any other region outside of Silicon Valley. At this Milken Institute Forum, several of these pioneering innovators talked tech and gave their take on why Los Angeles has come into its own as a popular place for startups.

Speakers: Bonin Bough, Vice President, Global Media and Consumer Engagement, Mondelez International Gotham Chopra, Filmmaker and Co-Founder, Graphic India Ryan Holmes, CEO, HootSuite Kenneth Lerer, Managing Director, Lerer Ventures; Co-Founder, Huffington Post Moderator: Lisa Ling, Host, "Our America". Audacious innovators are out to change the world. Risk-takers are turning classic business models upside down. Social-media entrepreneurs are revolutionizing the workplace and shortening the business cycle. Corporations with in-house incubators are recreating entrepreneurial environments as a recruitment and retention strategy. Tweeting consumers promote while purchasing. These are the disruptors, innovators and entrepreneurs who keep reinventing society. How do we measure social currency and build community? Does everyone need a personal brand-marketing strategy to succeed? Philanthropists and global citizens, filmmakers, gamers and storytellers are transforming the way we look at and interact with the world. Join us for a conversation without boundaries.

Speakers: Di-Ann Eisnor, Vice President, Platform and Partnerships, Waze John Malloy, General Partner, BlueRun Ventures Michael Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist, Progressive Policy Institute Ray Sharma, President and Founder, XMG Studio Inc. Moderator: Kara Swisher, Co-Executive Editor, All Things D. Though the most popular smart phone activity may be flinging kamikaze birds across a small screen, mobile apps mean big business -- even for small businesses. Navigation has become social, with programs showing up-to-the-second data about your drive from Tucson to Toledo. We can now exchange business cards with a quick phone bump. We can board jets and enter theaters ticketlessly - and manage our health through monitoring devices that connect to electronic medical records. Demand seems insatiable, and many developers, designers, and marketers are well-rewarded. Apple has reported more than 40 billion app downloads, covering 775,000 programs on the App Store alone, and those developers have been paid, in aggregate, more than $7 billion. About 500,000 jobs have been created in a field that didn't exist five years ago. This is the new apps economy. It's global, it's social, it's empowering a new generation of entrepreneurs and it's changing the way we do business.

Speakers: Silas Chou, President and CEO, Novel Holdings Group John Danhakl, Managing Partner, Leonard Green & Partners, LP Jim Fielding, CEO, Claire's Stores Inc. Mindy Grossman, CEO, HSNi David E. Simon, Chairman and CEO, Simon Property Group, Inc. Moderator: Dottie Mattison, Senior Managing Director, Guggenheim Partners. As the Great Recession fades, consumers appear to be emerging from their economic hibernation, but that doesn't mean businesses can just hit the "reset to 2006" button. Instead, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers face a growing challenge from online sales as well as cost pressures, demographics and changing tastes. Consumers continue to show a distinct preference for in-person buying - although worldwide e-commerce topped $1 trillion for the first time in 2012, it fell short of a 10-percent share of overall retail. But in an economic environment where every penny counts, do stores have reason to worry? What do we know about the preferences of Millennials and how to market to them? If the economy is recovering, where is demand concentrated? What tactics, technological and otherwise, can retailers use to survive and thrive?

Speakers: Avi Reichental, President and CEO, 3D Systems Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO and Co-Founder, Shapeways Moderator: Jamal Simmons, Principal, The Raben Group; Political Analyst. Will 3D printing launch the era of widespread human tissue engineering? Is it going to relocalize manufacturing, upsetting global supply chains and other facts of economic life? What's real about 3D printing, and what's hype? In theory, this technology for layering materials into complex objects can create customized products on a mass scale, bypassing traditional industrial and even scientific techniques. It is already used, largely for prototyping, in the automotive, aerospace, medical and other fields, but considered still in its infancy. Our panel will illuminate how the technology works and gauge its eventual impact. Which industries will see 3D printing as a boon, and which may be on the losing end? How can entrepreneurs make use of it, and could it help small and medium-sized businesses level the playing field with their larger competitors? What will the technology do to business costs and employment? How are regulators looking at these developments?