Assistant Secretary of Commerce to Speak at CONNECTIONS: The Digital Home Conference and Showcase

Business Wire, March 31, 2003

Business Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2003

Parks Associates and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) today welcomed Assistant Secretary of Commerce Bruce Mehlman as a speaker at CONNECTIONS(TM): The Digital Home Conference and Showcase, to be held May 7-9, 2003, at The Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, Calif. In his presentation Mr. Mehlman will review the policy environment in Washington, D.C., specifically noting the issues relevant to home networking technologies.

Mr. Mehlman will speak in the session The Promise of Digital in the Whole Home on Thursday, May 8, 2003, 9:00 - 10:15 A.M. This session features key industry and government leaders' views on the emergence of the digital home, its importance to American consumers and its dollar potential. Also in the session are Jens Jensen, vice president and general manager of the Computing Market Segment of Philips Semiconductors, and Patrick Moorhead, vice president of Customer Advocacy for AMD and chairman of the Global Consumer Advisory Board. Tricia Parks, president of Parks Associates, will moderate the panel.

"From spectrum allocation to broadband regulation to digital copyright, decisions made in Washington have enormous impact on the future of home networking and IT," said Mehlman. "I look forward to robust discussion with industry and technology leaders to ensure we get the right information to the right policy makers."

Assistant Secretary Mehlman leads the Office of Technology Policy (OTP) within the United States Department of Commerce's Technology Administration. This Office strives to maximize technology's contribution to U.S. economic growth, productivity, innovative capacity, and global competitiveness. OTP works closely with leaders from industry, federal labs and universities, and state, federal, and international governments on critical policy issues impacting technology creators and users.

"Home networks create new category benefits in applications ranging from communications to entertainment to premise management, and a variety of different entities will be instrumental in increasing their distribution," Parks said. "This is a great opportunity to bring policy insight to an audience of technology leaders."

CONNECTIONS(TM) attracts leaders from an array of industries, including market research, energy services, broadband Internet access and services, entertainment, appliances, and computer manufacturers. Attendees include strategic planners, product developers, and marketers who are developing and selling advanced products and services for consumers in the residential market.

About The Commerce Department's Office of Technology Policy

The Commerce Department's Office of Technology Policy (OTP) leads Executive Branch efforts to identify and promote policies that maximize technology's contribution to U.S. economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness. Working closely with industry and innovation leaders, OTP makes recommendations to policy makers in the Administration and in Congress and issues reports and analyses.

About CONNECTIONS(TM)

CONNECTIONS(TM): The Digital Home Conference and Showcase, produced by Parks Associates in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association, is an international executive conference for digital home technologies. Market areas include broadband-related infrastructure and services, residential gateways, home networks, digital entertainment and home management. Speakers, panelists, and attendees see innovations, address technical challenges, network with peers, hear consumer research and business model presentations, and participate in industry discussions. www.connectionsconference.com