Always On: Table for Tech

Technology has revolutionized the way we share recipes, purchase groceries, rate and review restaurants, and make reservations. For the food industry, streams of data about consumer consumption have created new opportunities for anticipating food preferences, needs, and habits. Government agencies also recognize the value in applying new technology to food and the role of smart data in supplemental nutrition programs and product recalls.

This raises a number of questions: How sensitive is information about what we eat, where we eat, and with whom we eat? How does food characterize or define us? How can we optimize benefits of technology’s role in our diet?

At “Always On: Table for Tech,” CDT will convene experts in business, technology, and policy to discuss these questions and more. We will take an in-depth look at the evolution of food and tech, framed by how individual privacy considerations might impact the marketplace in practice, policy, and regulation.

4:00-5:00 PM, Panel
5:00-6:00 PM, Reception

FEATURING

Chris Beck
Rural Development, USDA

Laura Chadwick
Director, Commerce & Entrepreneurship, National Restaurant Association

Laurent Crenshaw
Public Policy, Yelp

Virginia Eubanks
Author of Digital Dead End: Fighting for Social Justice in the Information Age

Pam Hess
Executive Director, Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture

Moderator: Ali Lange
Policy Analyst, Center for Democracy & Technology

Introduction: Nuala O’Connor
President & CEO, Center for Democracy & Technology