In his Opening Session keynote to thousands of OEHS professionals gathered at the 2014 American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce), entrepreneur Peter Leyden described the digital revolution as one of the most life-altering periods in history, with repercussions that we are just now beginning to understand.
Leyden drew from two decades of experience in Silicon Valley to explain what OEHS professionals need to know about the digital revolution and its next phases. The journalist presented information spanning hundreds of years to demonstrate what he described as the biggest technological transformation the United States has ever experienced.
A rare global transformation
“To understand the technological changes that are happening around us, we have to put them in an even bigger context. We’re talking about rhythms of national history, or even world history. We are going through a very rare global transformation. From an American perspective, it’s something we’ve gone through only a handful of times,” said Leyden.
Jennifer Nash, executive director of the Regulatory Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School, kicked off Stewardship 2014 at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio by challenging attendees to consider what the phrase “product stewardship” truly means to them, both in theory and in practice. In her keynote address, Nash, who also serves as associate director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, urged product stewardship professionals to incorporate stewardship more fully into their organizations and actions.
Approximately 5,000 industrial hygienists and other occupational safety and health professionals are at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio for AIHce—the first time this premier event has been held here. Stewardship 2014 is being held concurrently with AIHce as a “conference within a conference” and brings together prominent experts and practitioners involved in minimizing the health, safety, environmental, and social impacts of products and packaging.
AIHce 2014 is sponsored by the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Council of Government Indistrial Hygienists.
