The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), announced today that more than 1300 attendees participated at its 2013 Georgia Technology Summit. The annual event, which was held Wednesday, March 20^th at the Cobb Galleria, is one of largest statewide gatherings of technology companies and professionals in the nation. 

“The Georgia Technology Summit was a tremendous success reflecting the diversity and unity of the technology community here in Georgia,” said Barry McCarthy, President of Financial Services, First Data and 2013 Georgia Technology Summit Chair. “First Data is proud to be a part of this community and we will continue to support TAG in its mission to make Georgia a Top Five State for Technology by 2015.”

This year’s Summit featured keynote speakers Bob Metcalfe, the co- inventor of the Ethernet, Matt Quinlan, CTO of VISA, and author, inventor and noted futurist  Ray Kurzweil , Google’s Director of Engineering. The state’s Top 40 and Top 10 Innovative Technology Companies were recognized and Jeff Arnold, Founder of WebMD and current CEO of Sharecare, was inducted into the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia at the event. 

TAG also unveiled the State of the Industry: Technology in Georgia Report which provides facts, statistics, trends and other insights about the state’s growing technology sector.   “The technology sector led the state of Georgia's employment recovery, generating nearly 16,000 jobs over the past two years, “said Tino Mantella, TAG President and CEO. “Over this two-year period, technology jobs represented more than 20 percent of all new jobs created in the state.”

The full State of the Industry: Technology in Georgia Report is available at http://tagstateoftheindustry.com/2013/