The Mass Technology Leadership Council has been feting the visionary leaders and groundbreaking innovators of the Massachusetts high technology community with our annual Technology Leadership Awards for 20 years.
Two decades of celebrating the state’s most powerful economic engine and a center of problem solving that is the envy of the world. This year is no different. It’s satisfying to look back over the last 20 years to remind ourselves of the people and companies that have gone on to greatness. And it’s equally important to look forward and wonder which of this year’s finalists will make their marks in the world by solving a problem that once seemed insurmountable; helping us capitalize on an unfolding technology, business or social dynamic the rest of us didn’t see.
After all, that’s what we do here in Massachusetts. We create opportunities. Solve problems. Define new markets. Redefine the old. We are never satisfied with the status quo, nor are we willing to accept the word “impossible.”
The 14 award categories for 2017 are different from those of 1997. Robotics, the internet of things and the companies that fill all 70 slots this year were unimaginable then apart from, perhaps, the pages of science fiction. But when we look back at today from the vantage point of 2037 we’ll wonder at the ingenuity that propelled us, marveling at the same talent and innovative spirit that is alive here today.
Maybe the innovator we’ll celebrate then is at home right now on summer vacation, and she’s dreading the thought of entering junior high. Or perhaps he is somewhere overseas soon to be carried here by the hope that has compelled generations of immigrants to our shores.
Congratulations to all the 2017 Technology Leadership Award finalists. We congratulate and thank you for your hard work. We wish you well – not only for the chance to hoist a trophy later this year – but for the dreams you are building and for all the people whose lives you will change.
And we look forward to celebrating with you and hundreds of others from our region’s unparalleled innovation community at the MassTLC Leadership Awards Gala on September 14 at Boston’s Seaport World Trade Center. More details, advance registration and sponsorship information are available at http://masstlcawards.org/.
