From the applications and implications of blockchain to the future of personal mobility, California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) 2018-19 South Bay Economic Forecast conference on Oct. 25 will provide a look at innovative local businesses that are changing the way residents live, work, and play, and an analytical report of the current economic drivers in the region.

WHEN & WHERE: The South Bay Economic Forecast will take place Thursday, Oct. 25, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. in the Loker Student Union ballroom on the CSUDH campus, located at 1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747. Click here for a campus map.

RECEPTION: The conference will be immediately followed by a beer and wine reception featuring sprits from South Bay companies.

REGISTRATION: To register and for more information visit https://www.csudh.edu/uce/economic-forecast/. There is no cost for the media.

Titled “A Region in Transition: The Future is Here,” the conference will be hosted by Frank Mottek, anchor for KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO, and will provide an wide-ranging, data-driven report on the current state of the South Bay, as well as the outlook for 2019. It also provides a summary of the economic outlooks for California and the nation.

The economic report will be delivered by William Yu, economist UCLA Anderson Forecast.

“As the southern part of Silicon Beach, South Bay is one of the more dynamic regions in Southern California. The most important driver of South Bay’s economy is the manufacturing sector, and the crown jewel is its aerospace and defense industry,” said Yu. “We predict that South Bay’s growth rate will accelerate over the next year, mostly due to the expansion of the federal government’s defense budget. Additionally, SpaceX and the new NFL stadium will continue to transform and advance the local economy.”

The fourth annual forecast event will also include presentations by CSUDH professors on regional economic development, and a panel of local visionaries and industry executives discussing trends in technology, new media, smart cities, and personal mobility.

South Bay Economic Forecast presenters and panelists:

• Aziz Ucmakli, principal research analyst, and Mathew Staal, senior engineer and new business adviser, at Honda R&D Americas, Inc. The duo will focus on the future of personal mobility in the South Bay, touching on the various types of autonomous vehicles that may be available and how technology in automobiles can be disruptive.

o   Honda will also demonstrate its new autonomous 3E-D18 Robotic Workhorse during the Economic Forecast, which features a range of experimental technologies engineered to understand people’s needs and demonstrate how robotics and people can work together.

• Heidi Pease,co-founder of Los Angeles Blockchain Lab in Santa Monica. The lab offers training, networking, and other services to individuals and organizations looking to get involved in blockchain technology, a list of records called “blocks” that are linked using cryptography to enable digital information to be widely distributed but not copied. Pease will delve into the hype and reality of the technology, and its potential uses and training opportunities for students, educators, and the workforce.
• Bree Nguyen, head of talent and creator partnerships at Facebook. Nguyen, a CSUDH alumna, will discuss the ways we consume, create, and interact with media is changing platforms like Facebook. She will also touch on what it means for the future of media and television over the next decade as augmented reality, which is the ability to digitally superimpose information—sounds, images, and text—on the world one sees, and as virtual reality technologies evolve.
• Shan Sundar, founder and chairman of Edgesoft, Inc.in Manhattan Beach, a software solutions company with the goal of making the idea of smart cities attainable. Sundar will offer a renewed perspective of today’s smart cities and their potential cultural effects.
• Jose Martinez, associate professor of economics and co-director of CSUDH’s South Bay Economics Institute, will provide updates on the South Bay housing market. He will also share the institute’s latest data on telework (working from home or remotely) and its effect on traffic, travel time, and housing trends.
• Fynnwin Prager, assistant professor of public administration and co-director of CSUDH’s South Bay Economics Institute, will discuss entrepreneurship and findings from the institute’s economic development study on 200+ Southern California cities.