SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just as Steve Jobs had said, companies should strive to “be insanely great,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the 2016 Utah Technology Council (UTC) (http://www.utahtech.org) Hall Of Fame gala event. Now in its 18th year, the UTC Hall of Fame addressed a record crowd of more than 1,400 Utah technology leaders last week at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
As the leader of a $6 billion enterprise, the most valuable within the world, Cook expressed respect for the contributions of Utah’s 5,000 technology firms. He noted the importance of privacy and of the responsibility of tech firms to protect it, observing that there is now more private information about each of us on our smartphones than there is within the walls of our homes.
Sen. Orrin Hatch interviewed Cook during his keynote presentation where he explained that it is vital to captivate the attention of young women and of youth at a younger age to encourage their interests and skills in programming. It is vital both to advance their lives and economic futures, as well as for the benefit of the future innovations they will create. He advised companies to focus on their culture, as the values their people stand for should extend to the culture of their organizations as well.
At the event, UTC honored 2016 inductees Fraser Bullock, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of private equity firm Sorenson Capital, Carine Clark, CEO of customer experience organization MaritzCX, and Peter Genereaux, the individual responsible for the genesis of the Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) in 1991, which later became UTC.
“We are extremely pleased to gain unique insights from Tim Cook, who leads the most admired and innovative company in the world, and to welcome these remarkable inductees into our 2016 Hall of Fame,” said Richard R. Nelson, president and CEO of UTC.
The gala headlines CEO keynotes from the world’s great technology companies. Prior HOF keynotes have included Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn; Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com; Shantanu Narayen of Adobe; Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com; John Chambers of Cisco; Eric Schmidt of Google; Jerry Yang of Yahoo!; Steve Ballmer of Microsoft; Mark Hurd of Oracle; Paul Otellini of Intel and Kevin Rollins of Dell.
About The UTC Hall of Fame
The annual Hall of Fame event honors individuals with Utah ties who have made global contributions to the technology industry through innovation and leadership. This year’s event brings the total number of inductees honored to 48.
The Hall of Fame celebration is the year’s largest gathering of Utah technology executives. UTC invites members of Utah's technology industries, as well as business and community leaders, to join in honoring inductees.
About the Utah Technology Council
As the driving force behind Utah’s technology community’s success for 25 years, the Utah Technology Council gives an influential, united voice to the state’s over 5,000 technology businesses and marshals support from government, education and community leaders and institutions. UTC’s three highest priorities are: Expanding the Talent Pipeline for high tech and related positions, Fostering a Tech-friendly Environment within Utah, and Ensuring Technology Innovation Continues to Thrive in Utah’s tech companies. Technology veterans and newcomers alike join UTC to help propel the growth of their companies and further grow Utah’s technology ecosystem as a nationally recognized top five tech center. www.utahtech.org
