Bill Gates appears on a monitor in Seattle during a virtual discussion as part of the 2020 GeekWire Summit on Thursday. (GeekWire Photo / Holly Grambihler)

The first week at the 2020 GeekWire Summit made news, and we’ve got many more insights ahead from leaders in tech, science, business and healthcare.

In an hour-long conversation to wrap up our first week, Bill Gates generated headlines with his comments on the pandemic, the climate and the Congressional antitrust inquiry into the tech industry — while offering a glimmer of hope for a better world ahead.

We also explored the implications of the telehealth boom, jumped into the race for a COVID-19 vaccine, learned about some interesting new inventions, discussed leadership and civic responsibility in tumultuous times, and got an up-close look at the new era for PCs and devices.

Coming up next, on Tuesday Oct. 20, it’s a GeekWire Summit tradition: our annual panel of top venture capitalists, offering insights into key trends in technology, startups and investing, with a particular focus on health care. 

Later on Tuesday, we’ll talk with Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern, who is navigating an uncertain future in one of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic, as the head of the Seattle-based online travel giant. We’ll hear about the future of travel, discuss the fate of the world’s big cities, and find out when we’ll be able to sit on a beach again.

And later in the week, on Thursday, Oct. 22, we’ll explore the future of education and hear new details from a Seattle biotech company that has raised more than $700 million in an ambitious quest to find new ways to treat disease.

You can still register here or below to attend the virtual GeekWire Summit. All registered attendees of the virtual event get exclusive access to GeekWire Summit sessions, live and on-demand, including sessions that took place previously.

Thanks to all the attendees, GeekWire Members, VIPs and speakers for joining us for the first week of the GeekWire Summit, presented by Bank of America. We hope you will continue to join us on Tuesdays and Thursdays over the next two weeks for more inspiring conversations, virtual networking and expert insights.

Check out all our Summit coverage here, watch all our highlights videos here, and also follow the conversation on Twitter.

Continue reading below for highlights and clips from the first week’s sessions, and a preview of what’s in store for week two.

Day 1: Tuesday, Oct. 13

The Race to a COVID-19 Vaccine

SpeakersDr. Deb Fuller, professor of microbiology at the University of Washington; Dr. Lynda Stuart, deputy director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr. Melanie Ivarsson, chief development officer at Moderna, one of the major biopharmaceutical companies with a vaccine candidate in Phase 3 tests. Moderated by GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop.

Read more: Experts foresee triumphs and tragedies in worldwide quest for COVID-19 vaccine

Leadership in Tumultuous Times: How Organizations Can Embrace Civic Responsibility

The cascading events of 2020 have made it a very challenging time to lead. What can organizational leaders do to help drive positive change across their communities? Top tech and community leaders discussed the role companies play in civic discourse, what it’s been like to lead over the past six months and offered actionable steps as leaders continue forward.

Speakers: Nick Huzar, co-founder and CEO of OfferUp; Dan Lewis, co-founder and CEO of Convoy, Michelle Merriweather, CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, and Matt Oppenheimer, CEO of Remitly. Moderated by Monica Nickelsburg, contributing editor at GeekWire.

Inventions We Love: Pure Watercraft

We wanted to bring back one of our favorite aspects of the GeekWire Summit called Inventions We Love — a fun look at some of the innovative and creative inventions that entrepreneurs from the Seattle region are creating. Our first featured invention is Pure Watercraft presented by CEO Andy Rebele.

Fireside chat with Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay

GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop hosted a virtual fireside chat with Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay. Panay discussed the unlikely partnership with Google on the Surface Duo, leading the company’s unified Windows software and hardware teams remotely and how it may not be the “post-PC” era after all, as the pandemic renews the relevance of desktop and laptop computers in our lives.

Day 2: Thursday, Oct. 15

How COVID-19 is Sparking a Telehealth Wave

The pandemic has rapidly accelerated the remote delivery of healthcare, and we heard insights from Dr. Amy Mezulis, co-founder and chief psychologist at UpLift and Professor of Clinical Psychology at Seattle Pacific University; Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, EVP and chief clinical officer at Providence; Dr. Brad Younggren, chief medical officer at 98point6; Dr. Ian Tong, chief medical officer at Doctor on Demand. Moderated by T.A. McCann, managing director at Pioneer Square Labs.

Read more: Telehealth experts say COVID-19 created an opportunity to reimagine healthcare

Inventions We Love: Remmie Health

Our second featured Inventions We Love (above) is Remmie Health, presented by CEO and Founder Jane Zhang.

Fireside chat with Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Gates Foundation

In an hour-long interview, GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop asked Bill Gates about the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the state of technology, antitrust and more. The Microsoft co-founder offered reasons to be hopeful even as he sounded the alarm on climate change and discussed the trajectory for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Read more: Bill Gates says world can avoid climate ‘disaster,’ if we learn lesson from pandemic

Bill Gates on tech and antitrust: It’s ‘unfortunate’ that Congress is grouping companies together

What gives Bill Gates hope about the world, and one thing he says we should all do right now

This week on the Bank of America Stage:

Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern. (Expedia Group Photo)

Tuesday, Oct. 20: Fireside chat with Peter Kern, CEO of Expedia Group

Expedia CEO Talks Travel: Perhaps no industry has suffered more than the global travel business, and millions of business and leisure travelers are wondering when it will be safe to hop on that flight to New York or cruise to the Caribbean. We’ll discuss the prospects for a rebound and how the travel industry is innovating during these trying times in a fireside chat with newly-appointed Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern. Moderated by GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop.

Thursday, Oct. 22: The Future of Education

Panelists for the Future of Education panel at the GeekWire Summit coming up on Thursday, October 22.

Remote learning. Virtual commencements. Equitable access to technology. The challenges facing educators, institutions, parents and students are drastically different this fall as many campuses and schools remain empty. Hear from Dr. Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College; Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of DreamBox Learning; and Diane Tavenner, co-founder and CEO of Summit Public Schools. Moderated by Tyra Mariani, president of Schultz Family Foundation and former deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education.

This week on the Regence Health Tech Stage:

Tuesday, Oct. 20: Investing in innovation at the intersection of IT and healthcare

Venture capitalists need to keep an eye on the future. In this session, we’ll hear from three investors who are spending time at the crossroads of technology and healthcare, exploring area such as telehealth, patient monitoring and the challenges tied to privacy and interoperability.

Speakers: Emily Melton, co-founder of Threshold; Julie Sunderland, co-founder and managing director of Biomatics Capital; Nina Kjellson, general partner at Canaan Partners; Moderator: Dr. Robert Overell, president Foundation BioVentures

Thursday, Oct. 22: Fireside chat with Steve Harr, CEO of Sana Biotechnology

Founded by veterans of Juno Therapeutics, Sana Biotechnology is developing new ways to modify genes and replace damaged cells in the body, possibly pioneering new treatments for a number of diseases. After more than a year of secrecy and speculation, the company formally announced that it raised more than $700 million in venture funding in June. We’ll discuss the life sciences industry, the company’s vision for gene and cell therapies and what made investors so bullish with former Juno CFO and current Sana CEO Steve Harr. Moderated by Luke Timmerman, The Timmerman Report.

Thank you to our sponsors: Presenting: Bank of America, PlatinumRegence BlueShield, Gold sponsors: ALLtech Benefits Trust, BCRA Design, EY, PayScale, Wave Business and Wilson Sonsini; Silver sponsors: Calgary Economic Development, CloudHealth by VMware, Slalom, Swapcard, Washington Research Foundation, and WeWork.

See the full agenda for all three weeks at geekwire.com/summit.

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