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In your current job, would you describe yourself as a "Brilliant Technology Innovator" or "Indentured Spice Monkey"? In the competitive and fast-paced semiconductor industry, most jobs require people to do at least a little (but more often a lot) of both. And your answer may change on a daily or hourly basis. But how do corporations, universities and the technologists at the heart of these organizations strike the right balance between blue-sky innovation and disciplined execution? What priorities and policies distinguish the industry leaders from the industry followers?

In a “call for leadership” panel at ISSCC, we will be seeking leaders' perspectives on the future of discontinuous innovation in the semiconductor industry. An ensemble of visionaries, experts and CEOs will discuss the opportunities and challenges for innovation in our industry. Of primary concern is the reduction in funding available for new semiconductor ventures. Are the escalating NRE costs of ASICs providing a barrier to new entrants? What advice would our distinguished panellists give to entrepreneurs thinking of starting a new semiconductor company?

A distinguished panel of experts from global industry and academia will debate the nature of systems that will drive the killer applications of 2020. Can we really forecast these future killer applications? We have had the computing revolution, then communications, and now, the sensor revolution. Are sensors driving the future killer applications? Are there any other revolutions in sight? What circuits and system innovations can ISSCC bring forward to enable the next killer applications? What unique technology elements, device structures and memory architectures will be required? Should we continue with silicon technology and seek breakthroughs in system architecture, algorithms, SoC integration and packaging? Or, are we preparing for “beyond silicon” technologies? And if so, which beyond-silicon technologies are realisitic for the future, versus forever being technologies of the future?