Welcome to Baltimore Innovation Week 2015

It’s been a big year.

In the months since Baltimore Innovation Week 2014 the city has landed full-force in the national spotlight. The death of Freddie Gray and the protests that followed offered ample opportunity to reflect: about the pressing issues of injustice and poverty — and about what technology and entrepreneurship can be doing to make Baltimore a better city for all of us.
As we kick off the fourth annual Baltimore Innovation Week, it’s with an eye toward impact.
Technical.ly has always been about technology as a means to an end. It’s in the tag line: “Better cities through technology.” In Baltimore lately, that includes the stuff explicitly aimed at this (the Hack for Diversity and Social Justice hackathon, for instance), but — excitingly — it also includes the other stuff: The big OrderUp acquisition that creates a new generation of angel investors. The expansion of Under Armour’s innovation infrastructure into Port Covington. The continuing conversations about making Baltimore’s tech sector more inviting to women and people of color.
As you forge new connections at #BIW15, keep this in mind: It’s a collective effort, this better city-building business. This magazine and program serves as your guide to plotting a course. It’s here to help you get involved with and learn more about the people creating solutions for Charm City and beyond. It’s a starting point for doing your part, and creating impact of your own.
Earnestly,
Zack Seward, Editor-in-Chief, and the entire Technical.ly Baltimore team