Many thanks to Venture Technologies CEO, Gerard Gibert, for providing our program on Tuesday. Mr. Gibert is pictured with Club President, Steven Utroska.
President Steven Utroska presided over today’s meeting. Stew Deen gave today’s invocation. Phillip Carter led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thanks to Mark Killingsworth and Tracie Fowler who served as our greeters today. Mike McPhail filled in for Brandon Hodges and thanked those who helped with today’s meeting and introduced our guest. Cody Beilstein is a guest of Stew Deen.
Steven noted that Meals on Wheels volunteers are needed for the next three months. He asked Eric Rodgers to describe his meals on wheels experience last week. Eric says the entire process took about 30 minutes out of his day and was very rewarding. More volunteers are needed.
Steven then introduced today’s guest speaker, Gerard Dilbert. Gerard is the founder of Venture Technologies, a Technology Solutions Provider headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Gerard gave up a full-time job with a national accounting firm to develop a business plan creating Venture Technologies. His plan needed $189,000 of funding which he could not get from the lending industry. His wife’s parents allowed him to secure his first loan with the property they owned near I-10. He began Venture in 1986 and paid his initial loan off within the first five years of business. Venture Technologies was sold in January of this year, but before being sold it was listed as the thirty-third largest private business in Mississippi by the Mississippi Business Journal.
Venture Technologies had grossed $212 million in revenue and had 293 employees. Gerard says his formula for success was, “our employees treat the customers right and the customers then treat the company right.”
The “consumerization of IT” generates about $3.7 trillion. Apple is the world’s most valuable tech company. Apple currently has $261 billion in cash reserves. Amazon and Microsoft are the leading companies in cloud technology. Microsoft generated about $11 billion last year with $7 billion of that generated from their Cloud operation.
The new computer architecture that will shape the immediate future for technology, according to Gerard, include the Cloud, hybrid chip production and Quantum Computing. The biggest threat to our nation, according to Gerard is Cyber Security. Problems complicating solutions to this threat include bureaucratic delays, antiquated equipment and the lack of qualified personnel. It is estimated that the US government needs a minimum of 250,000 cybersecurity experts today.
As for the future, Gerard says he believes it will be illegal for a person to drive a vehicle by 2025. The airline industry is predicting that they will be flying pilotless airplanes by 2040. Sound energy will be developed and help reduce the amount of electricity used in air conditioning by 37%. The use of RFID chips implanted into humans is expected to increase. Employees will be wearing sociometric badges capable of automatically measuring the amount of face-to-face interaction, conversational time, physical proximity to other people, and physical activity levels helping employers better configure workspaces.
Many people in the US do not live within 100 miles of an eye doctor making it difficult for them to get proper eye care. A new device now on the market allows a person to use their smartphone and internet technology to get an eye examination and an eyewear prescription for only $25.00. This is a disruption that will have a major impact on America’s health care in the future.
Other Gerard predictions include the use of robots for surgery by 2050. He also says we will use no coal by the year 2030 and that buildings will produce their own energy using a variety of technologies, an issue that is causing great concern in energy producing companies today.
He says China is defeating US efforts to develop and implement 5G technology, primarily because the Chinese government is funding their research while the US government is focused on regulating the current industry. Using 5G technology, a surgeon in Japan recently conducted surgery on a patient living in Spain.
The biggest challenge for our society, according to Gerard, is the convergence of man and machine. He says it is coming and we just need to be prepared for it.
Steven thanked our speaker and then adjourned the meeting with our motto, Service Above Self.