ANSI’s Denver Visitor’s Guide: Explore the Mile High City

Don't miss these Denver highlights during ANSI’s Innovation Summit 2026

Heading to the ANSI Innovation Summit this month?  Check out ANSI’s Denver Visitor’s Guide for fun trivia, the city’s origin story, and a rundown of the sights to see between sessions—including landmarks like the much-loved (and feared) 9,000-pound blue mustang sculpture at the airport.

The Grand Hyatt—where the Summit events will be held—sits at the head of the 16th Street Mall, and much of the city is walkable or a free short shuttle ride away. Between sessions or after hours, explore the local restaurant scene (including dining with cliff divers at Casa Bonita), catch a concert at the open-air Red Rocks Amphitheatre, join a yoga session at the Denver Botanic Gardens, or tour the U.S. Mint. You can also join colleagues in an optional welcome activity organized by ANSI: the Best of Denver Walking Tour on July 28 (register here). And with Colorado's 150th anniversary just after the Summit, keep an eye out for sesquicentennial celebrations in the days that follow. The free Civic Center Night Market on Friday, July 31, caps off Summit week.

Sessions at the 2026 ANSI Innovation Summit

Registration is open for the Summit, taking place on July 28-31 at the Grand Hyatt Denver. All daytime events are complimentary.

Tuesday, July 28

• Standards at the Speed of Innovation: A Fireside Chat with Standards CEOs: ANSI president and CEO Dr. Laurie E. Locascio sits down with leaders from five standards developing organizations for a candid conversation about how the community can keep pace with the technologies it supports.
• The Standards Lab: Testing New Development Approaches: Short, fast-paced talks spotlighting how standards developing organizations and consortia are using AI, collaboration tools, and fast-track pathways to modernize standards development.

 Wednesday, July 29

• Accelerating the Digital Economy through AI and Quantum: A full-day tech conference examining how standards can accelerate AI adoption today and prepare industry for the quantum transition ahead. Featured speakers include representatives from Anthropic, the Frontier Model Forum, IBM Research, IonQ, Microsoft, NIST, and OpenAI.
• 2026 ANSI Leadership and Service Awards: An evening honoring 27 standardization leaders in our community.

 Thursday, July 30

• ANSI Legal Issues Forum: Standards at a Crossroads—AI Policy, Practice, and Protection: A three-part discussion on how AI is transforming standards licensing and what it will take for SDOs to protect their intellectual property as the commercial landscape shifts.
• Lunch and Annual Business Meeting Presentations: ANSI board chair Chris Dubay will present financial information, followed by presentations from Dr. Laurie E. Locascio and ANSI leadership.

 Friday, July 31

• 2026 U.S.–Korea Standards Forum: Now in its sixth year, the forum brings together U.S. and Korean government and industry leaders for high-level dialogues and expert panels on AI, quantum technologies, future mobility, and biotechnology.

Questions? Visit www.ansi.org/summit to learn more or contact [email protected]. We hope to see you there!