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Dr Guido Appenzeller, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
1) Briefly tell us what it is about your company/project that makes it so special?
Encryption and communication is the lifeblood of commerce, till now, companies have relied on technology that is over a decade old. Though reliable, it is very difficult and complex to roll out, especially to consumers. With Voltage IBE, we have brought a completely different approach to securing communication that no one has thought of before, that dramatically reduces the infrastructure overhead and provides a very easy to use experience. Helping companies all round the world to conduct commerce in a safe and secure way that does not compromise people's privacy and expose them to identity-theft is the goal of Voltage IBE.
2) What country best facilitates starting a tech company? What single thing can a government do to encourage Technology Pioneers?
The real answer is California - Yes I know its not quite a country, but it does have the 5th largest GDP in the world. Clearly there are other countries that are making great strides in encouraging innovation, but the USA (and California in particular) has really been at the forefront. In fact it was US DARPA's original funding that enabled the development of Voltage's core Identity-Based Encryption (IBE) technology and opened the door for us to innovate new solutions in the field of communications.
3) What makes an innovator?
An innovator is someone who sees beyond the genesis of an idea to practical application and follows this vision through to delivering a real-world solution.
4) How does your company directly contribute to improving the state of the world?
A lot of information about individuals is routinely stored on corporate servers and transmitted across the internet to all parts of the globe, creating the serious risk of identity theft and privacy compromise. Protecting that information can be done by securing the infrastructure -- which is expensive -- or by securing the information itself no matter where it is. This is where Voltage Identity-Based Encryption comes in - a low cost, low infrastructure and easy to use approach to securing communication. By protecting information, you prevent fraudulent and damaging activities such as identity-theft and loss of privacy.
5) What value do you hope to gain from being a Technology Pioneer?
Voltage IBE is being used by major corporations to protect consumer information; as a Technology Pioneer we hope to cast a light on how the solution can be employed to increase the amount of communication between corporations and their consumers in a safe, secure and easy-to-use fashion.
6) What do you think the role of technology should be in society?
All technology falls into dissemination of ideas, communication and alleviation of human suffering although some would say entertainment is a category of its own.
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