The SXSW conference is the centre of SXSW Sydney. This year’s event will include hundreds of panels, presentations, workshops and mentor sessions across a number of conference tracks and as education partner, UTS is at the centre of the action.
![SXSW Sydney with dates on it.](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_small_1x/public/2023-09/Sub%20banner%204000%20x%201390.jpg?itok=4XySGgIw)
UTS on the main stage
Check out the UTS curated sessions that will include some of our most inspiring thinkers, creators and innovators.
It's 2050 and the robots are among us
Screw Silicon
The next 60,000 years of design
Walking in two worlds
The myth of the single user
Juggling family and work
It's 2050 and the robots are among us
A deep dive into how we’ll live with our new neighbours.
![robot reading a book](/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large_x1/public/2023-07/AdobeStock_564600557_%20TRON.jpeg?itok=MOAUoDYw)
The global population is tipping over 8 billion. The world robot population reached 8.6 million in 2021 -- where will it be in 2050? Will robots be part of our demographic count? This panel discussion dives into the evolution of robots, how the future is NOW, the ethical application of this tech and how we will coexist in the future state of ‘hominum cum machina’.
Meet your new neighbours who are being used for good, for evil and in highly dangerous fields of work.
Featuring: Distinguished Professor Fang Chen, Ed Santow, Dr Sarath Kadagoda, Deborah Szapiro.
Date: Thursdsay 19 Oct
Time: 11 am
Where: International Convention Centre
Screw Silicon: Welcome to the global south
![Tech precinct](/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large_x1/public/2023-07/d64e3c33-acbe-427d-9490-b57810c2384e.png?itok=qt_0umIj)
Australia is known for its harsh and unforgiving landscapes. This isn’t just life in the outback – it’s life in Australia’s startup ecosystem.
Hear from the movers and shakers at the heart of Tech Central, learn how you can invest, innovate and ultimately succeed, in the global South.
Featuring: Joel Connolly, Creative Director & Head of Blackbird Foundation; Katrina Konstas, EVP, Country Manager and Head of Sales APAC, Afterpay; Kate Pounder, CEO Tech Council of Australia; Glenn Wightwick, Deputy Vice Chancellor Enterprise, UTS.
Date: Tuesday 17 Oct
Time: 11 am
Where: International Convention Centre
The next 60,000 years of design
![Alison Page](/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large_x1/public/2023-01/Alison%20Page%20success%20stories.jpeg?itok=qPusHA1X)
Designing with country: Join this fascinating conversation and hear about the cultural, social and environmental importance of looking to ancient systems and knowledge of Australia’s First Nations and how this will shape the next 60,000 years of design.
Featuring: Alison Page, Associate Dean (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement), Design, Architecture, and Building, UTS
Date: Wed 18 Oct
Walking in two worlds: the space between cultures
![citizenship](/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large_x1/public/2023-07/citizenship.png?itok=3Rwyq89L)
In Australia, 48.2 per cent of people were born overseas or have parents from overseas... so what are the challenges and benefits of having access to more than one culture? Regardless of our age, when we or our families arrived, if our culture is similar to this one, many of us have modified our language, culture and behaviour to fit in. So, what does this mean for our workplaces, our recreation spaces, and the world we want to create? Join the panel to find out.
Featuring: Dr. Manisha Amin, CEO of the Centre for Inclusive Design, UTS Alumna; Dr. Bilquis Ghani, Lecturer, University of Canberra, UTS Alumna; Dr Elaine Laforteza, Equity and Diversity Project Officer, UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion.
Date: Sat 21 Oct
Time: 11 am
Where: International Convention Centre
The myth of the single user: how XR can help us embrace diverse minds and diverse bodies
![Single user](/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large_x1/public/2023-07/laurens-derks-bCdIx5LjrYo-unsplash.jpg?itok=2i7EbaB6)
Image credit: Laurens Derks
There are myriad ways of being in the world, yet many approaches to experience- and technology-design invoke ‘the user’; a standardised, non-specific person with a fixed perspective. But what biases might be hidden within our assumptions about this mythical user? And how might we instead create experiences and tools that reflect and support diverse perspectives and ways of being?
This panel will examine how extended reality (XR) and interactive media technologies might offer possible solutions, through embracing neurodivergence, disability, and a range of bodily expressions across users. Dr Scott Brown will discuss his current research connecting neurodiversity and spatial sound. His project explores how adaptive multi-channel audio could allow neurodivergent people to engage with cultural experiences in public settings. Dr Julia Scott-Stevenson will explore how features of XR technologies can exclude users, and will examine the notion of glitch in computational media in parallel with concepts of diversity in human bodies. Michela Ledwidge will discuss the challenges of running a studio in an increasingly conservative technology landscape. From working around stereotyped off-the-shelf digital human tools, to building with LLM models that are trained on biased data, finding solutions that push back on the status quo is a complex task.
Featuring: Dr Julia Scott-Stevenson, Chancellor's Research Fellow, UTS; Dr Scott Brown, UNSW; Michela Ledwidge, Founder & CEO, MOD.
Date: Friday 20 Oct
Time: 3:30 pm
Where: International Convention Centre
Juggling family and work/life balance in the music industry
![Mothers and music](/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large_x1/public/2023-07/Kids%20and%20muic.jpg?itok=2DwQlQc9)
Somewhere in the music industry, between sex, drugs and rock n roll, and The Wiggles, is the rest of us. This panel is a chance to talk about how creative industries work fits, or doesn’t, into the realities of family life. Whether you’re a young musician thinking you’ll have to give up your career aspirations to have kids later; or a young thing with younger things in your care trying to juggle it all…this panel is for you. You’ll hear from a range of voices across the music industry about how they make the juggle work, and what the future industry can do differently to make it even easier still. From mosh pits to mother’s groups, psych rock to the playground, daycare to death metal, this panel looks at what it’s like to have a career in music while raising children.
Bringing together academics, music executives and podcasters, all with lived experience of managing a career and children simultaneously, the panel discusses the ways in which creative work fits – or doesn’t – into the realities of family life.
Featuring: KJ Tainton, Founder of Small Fry Rock; Lo Carmen, Musician and Author; Dr Liz Giuffre, UTS Senior Lecturer and author of Popular Music and Parenting (with Shelley Brunt, Routledge).
Date: Thursday 19 Oct
Check out the full SXSW Sydney 2023 program