Silicon Flatirons

A Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado

About Us

Silicon Flatirons pursues three basic goals:

1. to elevate the debate around technology policy issues;
2. to facilitate networking, the development of "human capital" and the promotion of entrepreneurship in the Colorado technology community; and
3. to inspire student interest in technology law and entrepreneurship.

Elevating The Debate

The information industries are in the midst of a challenging transition. Entrepreneurs are constantly developing new businesses and regulators are ever seeking to adapt to a dynamic marketplace marked by fast-moving technologies. Silicon Flatirons provides a forum for entrepreneurs, lawyers, industry professionals and policymakers to discuss the changing technologies as well as the new business models and the relevant legal issues associated with them. Examining what legal and regulatory reforms are necessary to meet the challenges created by technological change constitutes the core of Silicon Flatiron's mission. Notably, the Internet and the migration from analog technologies to a broadband digital environment continues to raise difficult technological, business, and policy questions. Over the past several years, Silicon Flatirons has hosted a number of stellar speaker to address such issues, including Michael Powell, FCC Chairman; Kathleen Abernathy, FCC Commissioner; Craig Mundie, Microsoft Chief Technology Officer; Fritz Hollings, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman; Michael Gallagher, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information; Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law Professor and Author; the CEOs of Level 3 Communications, Qwest Communications, Comcast, and Time Warner Telecom; and two heads of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.

Developing Human Capital

A core ambition of Silicon Flatiron is to develop programs on cutting edge topics that both inform our audience and expose them to new ideas. Each year, Silicon Flatirons hosts nine seminars and an annual symposium. We regularly draw over 200 people to each event, split evenly between students and professionals from the technology community. The academic environment and our strong participation from local industry facilitate a healthy balance between examining theoretical perspectives and real world insights. Notably, the Center provides a forum for analyzing the continually changing dynamics in the telecommunications and information technology marketplace and regulatory environment. In so doing, it continues to inspire and prepare students to participate in our emerging information economy and society.

Encouraging Entrepreneurship

Another principal ambition of the Center is to catalyze entrepreneurship in the region. Through the Center's myriad programs, including our support for the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, a campus-wide business plan competition, the New Technology Meetup, the Entrepreneurs Unplugged series, and the Crash Course for Entrepreneurs series, the Center establishes venues that addresses the development of skills necessary for building or counseling successful entrepreneurial ventures and creates networking opportunities to bridge the University and local communities. Through our conferences and roundtables, we are also committed to advancing scholarship of entrepreneurship.

Inspiring Student Interest

Across the University of Colorado, Silicon Flatirons looks to develop student interest and involvement in the technology sector. Students from the Law School, the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program, Computer Science, Journalism, the Business School, ATLAS, and other departments have attended our events. Silicon Flatirons has also matched up students from these areas with outside professional mentors. Similarly, Silicon Flatirons continues to work on developing internship opportunities for students interested in these areas. Student writing in this area also has blossomed, with a number of excellent papers submitted to the Silicon Flatirons Paper Competition.