Aurich Lawson
We made it! After announcing our inaugural conference and providing you with updates, we’re ready to get things started. We’ve been planning this event for months, and as some of your favorite Ars staffers start hopping on planes to meet up in Washington, DC, later in the week, we’ll be kicking things off with a series of livestreams before the main event on Thursday.
Today: Making critical infrastructure safer
We’ll get things rolling today with a conversation between security researcher Lesley Carhart and Ars alum Sean Gallagher on Twitter Live at 1 pm ET. Lesley and Sean will be discussing how we should be thinking about cybersecurity when it comes to our critical infrastructure and how we continue to build a talent pipeline prepared to address the ever-increasingly complex challenges of keeping our digital society running.
Tuesday: How COVID is shaping virology research
We heard your requests for a Beth Mole-moderated COVID discussion (thank you!), and she and Dr. Angela Rasmussen will be with us on Tuesday to talk about how the pandemic is altering the field of virology—particularly in terms of future pandemic preparedness—and how COVID has given the public a first-hand look at the unknowns and long-term effects of viral infections. Join us Tuesday on Twitter at 3:30 pm ET.
Wednesday: The fight for the right to repair
On Wednesday at 1:30 pm ET on Twitter, Ars Senior Products Expert Scharon Harding will speak with iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens for a timely conversation on the importance of the right to repair the electronics we own. Scharon and Kyle will talk about Apple’s latest repair kits, then zoom out to explore the broader ethical arguments and current legislative landscape.
Thursday: Ars Frontiers
Finally, we’ll conclude Frontiers week with our in-person Washington, DC, event. The full list of speakers and sessions can be found on the Ars Frontiers website (and we’ve had a couple of new speakers added to the lineup since last week).
It’s going to be a programming-packed afternoon, and attendance space is limited. In light of COVID, in-person attendance will be capped at 150 people, which affords us a fairly intimate affair. (COVID restrictions for attendees will be in effect.)
For those of you who would still like to join us in person, we have a few spots available due to cancellations. If you think you can make it, you can request an invite below. Hope to see you there!