New Horizons: Infrastructure, Energy, and Data in the Coming Decade
About this Event
Join Us for New Horizons: Infrastructure, Energy, and Data in the Coming Decade!
Rapid growth in data and artificial intelligence, rising energy demand, aging infrastructure, new technologies, and changing patterns of development are creating challenges, and opportunities that will require new thinking across sectors.
New Horizons will bring together leaders from government, industry, higher education, utilities, engineering, economic development, and communities to explore the infrastructure decisions that will define the coming decade. Keynote address will be given by Christina Cassotis, Chief Executive Officer of the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
Join us for a day of conversation about what we build, how we power it, how we pay for it, and how we prepare our communities for what comes next.
Presented by the Center for Energy and the Built Environment at Washington & Jefferson College, it is free and open to the public. A full agenda will be available soon.
Agenda
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:15 AM
Welcome & CEBE Overview
Host: Dr. Elizabeth MacLeod Walls
🕑: 09:15 AM - 09:55 AM
Setting the Stage: Infrastructure and Regional Business Attraction
Host: Moderator: Eric Chandler, Canonsburg Borough Council
Info: Infrastructure capacity increasingly determines which regions can compete for major investment, and Southwestern Pennsylvania is being evaluated on that basis right now. This session looks at what companies and investors are seeing in the region, where Southwestern Pennsylvania is positioned well, where the gaps are, and what would have to change. The goal is to establish a shared picture of the region’s competitive landscape before the morning moves into specific challenges and solutions.
🕑: 09:55 AM - 10:35 AM
Current Challenges with Infrastructure
Host: Moderator: Joy Ruff, Local Government Academy
🕑: 10:50 AM - 11:30 AM
Data Center Development & Governance
Host: Dr. Corey Young, CEBE
Info: Data centers are reshaping energy demand, land use, water resources, and local fiscal capacity faster than many planning and governance frameworks can absorb. Drawing on CEBE’s peer-reviewed research alongside perspectives from Pennsylvania’s business and legal communities, this session examines what that growth means for Pennsylvania communities and how local and state decision-makers can approach development from a position of information rather than reaction.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:10 PM
Meeting the Energy Demand of the Decade
Host: Moderator: Melanie White, Allegheny Science & Technology
Info: Regional energy demand is growing faster than many previous planning assumptions accounted for, and no single resource closes the gap. This session brings different parts of the energy mix into the same conversation to examine what each can realistically deliver, on what timeline, and under what constraints. Attendees will leave with a clearer picture of the buildout ahead and the tradeoffs that will shape it.
🕑: 12:10 PM - 12:40 PM
Keynote: Catalysts of Progress: How Airport Infrastructure Transforms Regional
Host: Christina Cassotis, Allegheny County Airport Author
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
