SAN JOSE — Cannes has its film festival. Hollywood’s got its Oscars. And Silicon Valley has its Tech Awards.
The deep-pocketed and black-tied titans of tech gathered Thursday evening in downtown San Jose for the 14th annual celebration of innovators doing extraordinary things with technology to make life better for millions of people around the world.
This year’s laureates include a startup that uses a special material that eliminates the need for vaccines to be refrigerated as they are transported throughout Africa; another that is building a network of portable toilets that turn waste into fertilizer; and a third that helps poor Latin American communities examine their water, air and soil for chemical contaminants.
This year, the event’s prestigious James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award went to CNN founder and telecommunications pioneer Ted Turner. He was the 11th person to receive the award, which honors individuals “whose broad vision and leadership address humanity’s greatest challenges.”
