One of the most extraordinary and ambitious conferences is being put on by my friend and colleague Lee S Dryburgh. He is launching the Hyper Wellbeing event which will run in Mountain View, CA, from November 14-16.
Some people have a special perspective that is informed by their life experience; he’s one of those people. They say that “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. He inherited a whole citrus grove of trouble and has been transforming it into a series of valuable enterprises.
At first he was a telecoms signalling expert (in SS7, since you ask), writing the definitive book on the subject. Then he launched the highly successful eComm conferences, the “TED” events of telecoms. This is where Google’s Android got its first proper public airing, and the implosion of Nokia was foretold. (I even did a bit of fortune telling on stage myself.)
Lee’s own journey of transformation, which involved dealing with considerable family trauma and personal suffering, informed his next move. He undertook several years of self-education in psychology, health, contemplative science, philosophy, politics, sociology and more. These joined with his existing long-term interest in communications technology to create the Hyper Wellbeing concept. I’ve been watching it emerge and mature with great interest.
The strapline says it all: “engineering health, happiness & flourishing”. It’s about moving beyond technology innovation for the sake of innovation, and focusing on technology innovation which could make a positive life difference. This is where the leading edge of technology is, and it is a fundamental swing away from our unhealthy obsession with mere “productivity”.
There are lots of events on mHealth, wearable tech, mobile, digital health and machine intelligence. These are like events on graphical displays, input peripherals, and programming tools. It takes an extra level of genius to combine these into an idea like the desktop OS or the Web. Hyper Wellbeing is a new concept at that “tier 0” level of conceptual innovation.
I see this inaugural Hyper Wellbeing event as having global significance, since it offers an unrivalled positive (yet practical) vision of the potential of connected technology. Its intellectual depth and practical breadth is audacious and energising. The initial speaker list is already impressive. You can get a sense of the subject matter by following @HyperWellbeing on Twitter.
I will be exploring the concept further in future articles, as it strongly resonates with my own research and understanding. In the meantime, you can still purchase one of the 50 tickets at the pre-early bird “friend” level.
For the latest fresh thinking on telecommunications, please sign up for the free Geddes newsletter.
Read It Now
