A
panel of four experts from the worlds of venture capital, medicine and digital
health will set the tone for a two-day discussion of Wisconsin’s innovation
assets on June 2 at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison.

The
13th annual event, with a theme of “Nurturing Entrepreneurial
Roots,” will be held June 2-3 at the Alliant Energy Center. Learn more and
register at www.witrepsconference.com.  

“Driving
quality up and costs down: Health IT in the age of accountability” will feature
Mark Bakken of HealthX Ventures, a Madison-based fund focused on health care
investments; Dr. Frank Byrne, the former president of St. Mary’s Hospital and a
national leader in patient care innovation; Dr. Sanaz Cordes of healthfinch, a
Madison-based digital health firm; and Ben Robbins, who focuses on digital
health investments for Google Ventures in Boston.

The
discussion will begin at 8:45 a.m., immediately following welcoming remarks by
Christal Sheppard, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Midwest office in
Detroit, Mich.

“Health
care in the United States is changing rapidly due to a host of factors, which
range from the Affordable Care Act to cost constraints to how patients
communicate with their medical professionals,” said Tom Still, president of the
Wisconsin Technology Council and the panel moderator. “Those factors also
include health information technology, which investors and providers alike see
as a pathway to enhancing the quality of care while holding down costs and
improving patient and provider satisfaction.”

Panelists will discuss the
importance of Wisconsin’s health-tech industry, as well as trends and
challenges facing the industry and its benefits for people, communities and health-care
institutions at home or abroad.

“Along with other hot-spots in
Wisconsin, the Madison area has become a hub for health technologies –
especially health information,” Still said. “We’re seeing innovation from a
range of health IT, device and products companies that will help save lives and
money, while improving delivery and quality of care.”

Produced by the Tech Council, the conference
is one of the largest events of its kind in the Upper Midwest. More than 500
people are expected to attend the two-day conference, to be held June 2-3 at
the Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, just off Madison’s
South Beltline. Other highlights
include:

  • A
    keynote presentation by Jerry Jendusa,
    co-founder and former CEO of EMTEQ and now a principal with STUCK LLC
  • The
    2015 Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” award recipient Jim Berbee, founder of Berbee
    Information Networks Corp.
  • Fifteen
    panel discussions for emerging
    companies on how to “Launch, Grow and Succeed,” including a special June 2
    plenary session to be announced
  • Diligent Dozen: Top 12 finalists from the
    Governor’s Business Plan Contest square off
  • Innovation Showcase featuring more than 45 companies
    from around the state
  • Plenty
    of chances to connect with seasoned
    entrepreneurs and investors over food and refreshments

Sponsors so far include: Aberdean Consulting; Alliant
Energy; American Family Insurance; American Transmission Co.; Ascendancy
Advisors; AT&T; Baird Capital; Baker Tilly; BDO; BloodCenter of Wisconsin;
BMO Harris Bank; Carroll University; City of Fitchburg; Concordia University;
CORE Business Consulting; Cresa Madison; Dedicated Computing; DeWitt Ross &
Stevens; Exact Sciences; Filament Games; Fine Point Consulting; First Business
Bank; Godfrey & Kahn; Google; Group Health Cooperative; HealthX Ventures; HP
Enterprise Services; Madison College; Madison Gas & Electric; Makin’ HEY!
Communications; Marquette University; Marshfield Clinic Applied Sciences;
Michael Best & Friedrich; Mid-West Energy Research Consortium; Midwest
Prototyping; MIOsoft; Murphy Desmond; Neider & Boucher; Nelson Schmidt; NEW
Capital Fund; New Horizons of Wisconsin; Nordic; PowerBuy 4 You; Quarles &
Brady; RDC National Inc.; Red Arrow Production; Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren
s.c.; Rockwell Automation; Safenet Consulting; The Business Journal; Tweedee
Productions; University Research Park; Uber; UW-Madison Discovery to Product
(D2P); UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations; UW-Milwaukee Research
Foundation; Venture Investors; Whitewater University Technology Park; Whyte
Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.; WIN-Lake Superior; Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.;
Wisconsin Technical College System; and WTN Media.

For more
information, visit www.witrepsconference.com or call 608-442-7557.