Faith and Innovation Conference

Silicon Valley has generated innovation affecting millions of people worldwide. But what is innovation without meaning and purpose? Saint Andrew’s is pleased to host this first annual conference which gathers innovators and the faith community to explore conscious innovation. Attendees will discuss questions such as:

• How does innovation affect or benefit the human community and the people within it?
• What are the implications of innovation in our daily lives?

Through presentations from innovation leaders and interactive discussion with participants, we will explore the nexus points between innovation, technology, and faith and how they may work together to further human connection and improve lives. Attendees will connect with others to generate ideas and create an ongoing community forum for exploring the significant questions regarding the impact of the gifts of innovation.

Speakers and Topics

Mike Malone, Author and Wall Street Journal, ABC, and PBS correspondent 

History of Innovation and Its Implications for the Future
It’s impossible to understand the future of innovation without first understanding its past. Author Michael S. Malone has made the study of Silicon Valley his life’s work. His greatest gift remains his ability to think expansively about technology’s profound impact on society. Malone was the first to understand the extent to which the transistor and the microprocessor changed the nature of work and play, and how you cannot change the nature of work and play without transforming the very structures of daily life. He explores how innovation results in the formation of new needs and desires, shifting power away from old institutions and into new ones we can barely yet imagine. The key to understanding the mystery of innovation, he has come to understand, is the knowledge that while nothing changes, everything changes.  

About Michael S. Malone
Michael S. Malone is one of the world’s best-known technology writers. He has covered Silicon Valley and high-tech for more than 25 years, beginning with the San Jose Mercury News as the nation’s first daily high-tech reporter, where he was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. His articles and editorials have appeared in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Fortune, and for two years he was a columnist for The New York Times. He was editor of Forbes ASAP, the world’s largest-circulation business-tech magazine, at the height of the dot-com boom.  Malone is the author or co-author of nearly 20 award-winning books, notably the best-selling The Virtual Corporation, Bill and Dave, and The Future Arrived Yesterday. Malone has also hosted three nationally syndicated public television interview series and co-produced the Emmy-nominated primetime PBS miniseries on social entrepreneurs, The New Heroes. As an entrepreneur, Malone was a founding shareholder of eBay, Siebel Systems (sold to Oracle), and Qik (sold to Skype). Malone holds an MBA from Santa Clara University, where he is currently an adjunct professor. He is also an associate fellow of the Said Business School at the University of Oxford and is a Distinguished Friend of Oxford. 

Noreen Herzfeld, Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University

Creating in Our Image: Questions Artificial Intelligence Raises About Technology and Ourselves
HAL, R2D2, Roomba, Watson, Ava: What are we really looking for in an artificial intelligence? Will intelligent computers replace us or co-exist with us? Will they be our servants, our slaves, our lovers, or our friends? The answers to these questions depend largely on what it is about ourselves we are trying to replicate in our machines. What does it mean to be in the image of something or someone completely different? Theologians have been asking this question for centuries in the context of Genesis 1 and how we understand ourselves as created in God’s image. We will look at the ways we might image God to shed light on what we really want from our technology and how best to get there.

About Noreen Herzfeld
Noreen Herzfeld is the Nicholas and Bernice Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. She holds degrees in computer science and mathematics from The Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in theology from The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. Herzfeld is the author of many articles in both academic journals and the popular press as well as several books, including In Our Image:  Artificial Intelligence and the Human Spirit (2002), Technology and Religion: Remaining Human in a Co-Created World  (2009), and The Limits of Perfection in Technology, Religion, and Science (2010).  

Gavin Wood, Chief Financial Officer of Affymetrix, Inc., a pioneer in microarray technology and a leader in genomics analysis

The Genomics Revolution
We are at the very start of a genomics revolution which will impact our lives, but most people have little understanding of the what, why, and when. Whether in the clinic, reproductive health, food production, or management, or direct to consumer offerings, genomics applications are already being used and the variety and reach of these applications will only increase. These will impact not just our own health, but the ability for the world to feed its rapidly expanding population as well as our ability to manage the diseases associated with old age. In this session, we will explore a number of key innovations and how they will impact individuals and the community. We will also pose key ethical and faith questions about how far we may want to use the tools and techniques that humanity now has.

About Gavin Wood
Gavin Wood is CFO of Affymetrix, Inc., a pioneer in microarray technology and a leader in genomics analysis that allow scientists and clinicians to rapidly translate their research into understanding underlying disease mechanisms, identifying biomarkers for personalized medicine, creating novel molecular diagnostic tests, and improving genetic marker-assisted breeding programs in agriculture. Gavin Wood was born in England and, after studying archaeology at Durham University, started a career in finance as a chartered accountant in the City of London before moving to industry. As a Christian, he has always been interested in how faith and work intersect and inform one another. Gavin moved to the Bay Area nearly three years ago with his wife and two children and has enjoyed exploring his adoptive state.

Steven L. Smith, NASA Astronaut; Associate Director for International Space Station; Science Directorate, AMES Research Center

Lessons from Space
As a veteran of 4 space flights and 7 space walks totaling almost 50 hours, NASA's Steven Smith has experienced the need to be innovative in the most challenging environment known to man -- Space. He has said, "Globally, the view of the Earth [from space] was incredibly heartwarming. You think, my gosh, it's even more beautiful than you can even imagine it. I looked out the window and thought that it doesn't matter what your religious affiliation is, someone or somebody or something played a significant role in making this happen, and we really need to do all we can to take care of it." In this session, Steven will discuss efforts to replace and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope and insights gleaned from working on a project that enables the study of the nature and distribution of galaxies more than ever before.

About Steven L. Smith
Steven Smith is a veteran of 4 space flights covering 16 million miles and 7 space walks totaling 49 hours and 25 minutes. His spacewalk time places him in the top 10 on the all-time American and world spacewalk duration lists. He served as the NASA International Space Station (ISS) program liaison to the European Space Agency until mid-2015. Steven now serves as the associate director for ISS, science directorate, at the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Previously he worked for IBM in the Large Scale Integration (semiconductor) Technology Group and Hardware and Systems Management Group. Special honors include: NASA Distinguished Service Medals (two), NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Space Flight Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award, and IBM Outstanding Community Service Award. Steven received a BS degree in electrical engineering in 1981, an MS degree in electrical engineering in 1982, and an MBA in 1987. All three degrees are from Stanford University.

Moderator

The Reverend Channing Smith, Rector, Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church & School

About Rev. Channing Smith
The Rev. Channing Smith is the rector of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church and School in Saratoga, CA. He has led the programs and people of that community for the past six years. In addition to their pre-K through eighth-grade school, Saint Andrew’s helps to support 34 local social service agencies, and coordinates the Echo Shop (a resale shop in Saratoga) and Camp Saint Andrew’s (a week-long summer camp in the Sierra Nevada). Prior to Saint Andrew’s, he was the rector of Transfiguration Episcopal Church. His upcoming sabbatical project is to create a faith and innovation forum where contemplative Christian wisdom joins with different areas of innovation. The resulting conversation brings self-awareness and consciousness to areas of innovation that affect our common life. The more purposeful we are with the gift of innovation, the more it will serve humanity and the greater global issues we face. Channing lives in Los Gatos with his wife Mary Richards and daughter Olivia.

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