Note to Correspondents

CONFERENCE ON ‘THE NET WORLD ORDER’ IN NEW YORK, 18 - 19 JUNE

The conference "The Net World Order:  Bridging the Global Digital Divide" will be held 18 and 19 June at the Jacob K. Javits Center, New York (34th Street and 11th Avenue).  Hosted by the Business Council for the United Nations, the event will seek to link technology innovation with the work of the United Nations to turn the digital divide into a digital opportunity.

The conference will be held at the inaugural CeBIT America (18-20 June), the first United States trade show that emphasizes the entire spectrum –- systems, applications, networking and telecommunications -- of information and communications technology (ICT) products and services.

The event will bring together leading information technology (IT) developers, technology investors, government policy-makers and academics to discuss a wide range of topics, including the expansion of emerging technologies such as WiFi, open-source solutions and the executable Internet.

The conference will open on 18 June at 12:15 p.m. with a welcome and introductions by Ambassador William Luers, President of the United Nations Association of the United States, and Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships and member of the United Nations ICT Task Force, on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Narayana Murthy, Chairman of Infosys Technologies, will deliver the opening keynote address on “Global Applications Development:  Fostering Home-Grown Cutting Edge IT Companies in the Developing World”.  He will present an overview of Infosys’ success in India and discuss the prerequisites needed for other developing country firms to follow its example.

George F. Colony, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forrester Research, will speak at 1:45 p.m. on “Critical Emerging Factors in Technology”.  Panel discussions will follow on “Rebuilding Iraq:  Information Technology and National Security” and “Technology for the Developing World:  Driven by Demand?”

On 19 June at 9:30 a.m., a panel discussion will focus on “Investing in Global IT Markets:  Overcoming Risk in Government Regulations, Politics and Business Environment”.  Denis Gilhooly, Executive Coordinator of the World Summit on the Information Society, will address “Engaging Business at the World Summit on the Information Society”.  Christopher Perretta, Chief Information Officer, GE Commercial Finance, will deliver the closing address at 12:15 p.m.

Other speakers include Bruno Lanvin, Manager, Information for Development Programme, World Bank; David Weild, Former Vice-Chairman of NASDAQ; Walter Bender, Executive Director, MIT Media Lab; James W. Jarrett, Vice-President, Legal and Government Affairs, Intel Corporation; David Kirkpatrick, Senior Editor, Fortune Magazine; Paul Underwood, Executive Director, Business Council for the United Nations; and Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Founder and Chairman, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, and Member of the United Nations ICT Task Force.

Sponsored by 3Com Corporation, the conference will advance one of the long-term initiatives of the Business Council for the United Nations –- helping the private sector to assist the United Nations work on ICT for development.  Proposals from the conference will be presented at the World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva, 10-12 December).

CeBIT, based in Hannover, Germany, is the world’s largest and most prestigious technology trade show.  The launch of CeBIT America marks the first time a CeBIT trade show is being held in the United States.

To apply for press credentials, visit https://webprod2.accureg.com/cba03_prod/webmain/pressinfo.asp.  For information, visit the Business Council for the United Nations Web site at www.bcun.org, or contact Edoardo Bellando, Development Section, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel:  (212) 963-8275, e-mail:  bellando@un.org.

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