Austin Next

Technology is advancing rapidly, but our social systems and institutions struggle to keep pace. Janine Leger co-founded Edge City, a society incubator accelerating social innovation through popup and experimental communities, and they're bringing their next gathering to Austin March 2-7. We explore how rethinking the intersection of technology and agency can lead to human flourishing, and why Austin is emerging as the perfect laboratory for this experimentation.

Episode Highlights
  • Edge City the Society Incubator 
  • Innovation in Temporary Spaces 
  • Building Default Healthy Environments 
  • Invisible Protocols and Personal Agency 
  • Edge City as Social Catalyst 
  • Austin's Innovation Ecosystem 
  • Edge City Austin
  • Key Personas in a Thriving Ecosystem  
  • Future City Projects and Experiments
  • Austin's Next Decade of Growth 
  • What's Next Austin?
    • "If you're interested in new society models, new ways of living, new towns, Austin is going to be a hub for that...There's so much happening around community dynamism"

Janie Leger
Edge City Austin
Edge City: Website, X/Twitter

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

What is Austin Next?

Austin is building the new tech, cultural, and intellectual stack. The region is a living laboratory to answer a single question: How do you build a global innovation superpower?

Host Jason Scharf dissects innovation from the individual to the ecosystem. From the soundstage to the data center to the fab, we decode the mechanics of Austin's innovation ecosystem.

As Atoms, Bits, and Intelligence converge, we explore how Hard Tech scale, digital velocity, and creative density collide. This is an audit of the future. We map the physics of the flywheel so builders and investors can navigate the chaos.