Demo has always been my favorite conference and I am looking forward to the next one — to be held in Phoenix, February 6-8. The Demo conference allows entrepreneurs to show off new gadgets, software, hardware and business ideas and enables the press, analysts, investors, and technology enthusiasts to assess what they see. The product introductions that take place reveal key technology trends over the coming 12 to 18 months. A new twist will be added to Demo this year that will add a look at the more distant future. Moderating panels is a way to share one’s perspective but more importantly to help bring out the depth and breadth of knowledgeable experts through an interactive conversation plus questions from the moderator and the audience. The new modules to look at “the more distant future” will be called “FutureScan”. The idea is to find some clues, not about what’s hot today or next year, but about the next, next, next big thing. There will be two panels — one on the afternoon of February 7th and the other one the next afternoon. The topics which the panelists and I will explore are “Computational Biology” and “The Future of Security”. In the next few postings I will provide some thoughts about the two topics and also about the distinguished panelists who will be sharing their insights.