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The Future Enernet: A Conversation with Bob Metcalfe | Interactive 2011 | SXSW

1,676 views · Published 16 March 2011 · 5:36 · Indexed 30 September 2026

Channel: SXSW · 2011 · Science & Technology

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Are there lessons we can learn from the growth the Internet and the transformation of telecom over the past 30 years that we can apply to energy? If so, what role can the digital creative class play in transforming our society's relationship to energy? In this discussion with the inventor of Ethernet, founder of 3Com, and for whom Metcalfe's Law was named, we'll have a conversation about how energy innovators can compete against the status quo. We'll pop the myths of how change happens in an industry (or not) and we'll discuss analogies from the Internet that may be applicable to energy. We'll discuss the forces working for and against new energy futures. We'll define the criteria needed to create an energy future that solves many of the problems associated with our current creation and use of energy. We'll discuss potential strategies to reach those solutions. We'll touch on the energy technologies that look promising; what we need to do to foster the research that brings about new technologies; and we'll discuss how energy entrepreneurs can facilitate adoption of their technologies to bring about change. The future doesn't necessarily have to look like the present. Learn why from someone who has already transformed networking and is looking to do so in energy. Gain a better understanding of how you can participate in a new energy future in your personal, professional, or political life.

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