Obama to Host Tech Conference in Pittsburgh

President Barack Obama plans to lead a technology-themed conference in Pittsburgh this year—months before leaving office—seemingly in an effort to ensure his administration's research commitments outlast his term. 

The White House's "Frontiers Conference" is slated to focus on topics related to science, technology and new ideas, including space exploration and artificial intelligence.

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The Oct. 13 event, co-hosted by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, appears to reinforce ideas related to specific programs the administration promoted, such as the open data plan that encourages agencies to share the information they collect with the public, and the Precision Medicine Initiative, which would invest more than $100 million in developing medical treatments tailored to the individual patient's lifestyle and genetic characteristics. 

Obama also plans to edit the November issue of tech magazine Wired, which will include articles, essays and topics "hand-selected by the president," according to Wired.

The Frontiers Conference, occurring just a couple weeks before the special edition of Wired is released, is slated to include presentations on topics such as the internet of things, machine learning, robotics, clean energy and the United States' journey to Mars, according to a White House press release.

Citizens can nominate "innovators" to attend the conference by submitting their names to the White House.