Technology Industry Leaders Outline Key Issues of Concern in the Current Political Debate

Business Wire, Oct 7, 2004

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- VORTEX 2004 audience calls for Bush and Kerry positions on globalization, U.S. reputation, broadband adoption, outsourcing, education, free markets and more

Technology industry leaders who are gathered this week at VORTEX 2004 are discussing the future of the $1 trillion information technology market, including how the re-election of President Bush or election of Senator Kerry will affect the technology industry.

"The VORTEX audience strongly felt that neither candidate has adequately articulated positions on the most significant issues of interest to the technology industry," said John Gallant, co-executive producer of VORTEX and editorial director of Network World Magazine. "With the election only weeks away, both candidates need to address in the debates and on the campaign trail the issues of an industry that is responsible for millions of jobs and more than 10 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product."

During the conference, Gallant moderated a panel and lead conference attendees in an open, "town hall" style forum on "Innovation, Politics and the Future of the American Technology Industry." Panelists included Jeffrey Blumenfeld, Partner, Antitrust & Intellectual Property, Crowell & Moring, LLP; Umang Gupta, CEO of Keynote Systems; Mitchell Kertzman, Partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; Geoffrey Moore, co-executive producer of VORTEX and managing director of TCG Advisors LLC; and David Kirkpatrick, Senior Editor, Internet & Technology, Fortune Magazine.

"VORTEX attendees generally agreed that globalization is inevitable and expressed a desire to take advantage of that trend in a positive way both for their businesses and for their global citizenship," said Gallant. "Of course, because we were talking about political topics, there was spirited debate on the 'how' part of the questions and the specific position of the candidates on the critical issues."

Key points discussed included:

--The need for government policy that further encourages broadband adoption to further develop next generation communications capabilities

--The inevitability of globalization and the desire to have a positive reputation for U.S. businesses so they can continue to have access to world markets

--The need to keep borders open to immigration, which has been the source of so much innovation throughout U.S. history

--The desire to provide educational opportunities for citizens and non-citizens because retaining U.S. technology leadership depends on an educated workforce

--The need for the U.S. to continue to adapt and innovate as businesses outsource some jobs or automate them through technology

--The hope that government will assist workers affected by outsourcing through retraining and economic education, rather than by restricting or penalizing companies that choose to deploy resources in the global market

VORTEX attendees, including CIOs, IT vendors, venture capitalists, and industry and financial analysts, have heard about the future of enterprise computing from leading vendors including Cisco, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, MySQL AB, Oracle, SAP, Sun and more.

About the VORTEX Conference

VORTEX is an executive conference envisioning the year ahead, as well as the new realities and opportunities for the IT industry and the connected economy. VORTEX explores how swirling forces like exploding bandwidth, open source software, virtualized and untethered computing, outsourcing, digital rights management, presence awareness, instant communications, ubiquitous, data-blasting sensors and other dramatic developments are converging to redefine computing and communications. VORTEX explores the people, technologies and issues that will drive - and impede - the pervasiveness and productivity gains from technology in the months ahead. Under the experienced stage guidance of Executive Producers John Gallant and Geoffrey Moore, VORTEX is where the leaders of the post-boom IT business set the agenda for tomorrow. VORTEX is hosted by Network World Events & Executive Forums, the producers of other highly respected industry events such as DEMO(R) and DEMOmobile(R).

About Network World Events & Executive Forums

Network World, Inc., the leader in network knowledge, empowers network IT executives through education, information and community. Network World is the leading provider of news, analysis, reviews, events and education on information technology. Network World publishes the leading newsweekly, Network World, hosts the most active online community, Network World Fusion (http://www.nwfusion.com), and produces educational events and executive forums worldwide. Network World's events products include our Technology Tours, and executive forums such as DEMO(R), DEMOmobile(R), and VORTEX, as well as the DEMOletter and VORTEX Digest newsletters.

About International Data Group

Network World, Inc. is a division of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research and event company. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net (http://www.idg.net), which comprises more than 330 targeted Web sites in 80 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related events worldwide, and IDG's research company, IDC, provides global market intelligence and advice through 51 offices in 43 countries worldwide. Company information is available at http://www.idg.com.