Council on Competitiveness 2003 Annual Meeting - Challenges in Globalization Challenges in Globalization: Council National Innovation and Security Launch of the National Innovation Initiative by Samuel J. Palmisano, Chairman and CEO of IBM WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The following press release is being issued by the Council on Competitiveness: What: Council on Competitiveness Annual Meeting Challenges in Globalization: Council National Innovation and Security When: Thursday October 30th, 2003; 7:30 am to 3:30 pm Where: St. Regis Hotel, 16th and K Streets, NW, Washington, DC All sessions open to the media. Lighting and sound provided. The Council on Competitiveness Annual Meeting will feature the following three sessions: Panel 1. -- Strategies for Innovation: How Does a Nation Keep its Edge? To open this panel, IBM Corporation Chairman and CEO Samuel J. Palmisano will launch a new National Innovation Initiative -- an effort over the coming year engaging Council Members with the White House, Governors, Members of Congress and other key stakeholders to develop a national innovation strategy. Mr. Palmisano will also call for the Council's 3rd National Innovation Summit to discuss the findings and recommendations of an innovation strategy, and to forge a broad national consensus around the path ahead. The purpose of the National Innovation Initiative is threefold: * Identify the key challenges and opportunities to strengthen innovation capacity. * Develop strategic recommendations for the public and private sectors * Create consensus among all elements of the national innovation enterprise -- the companies, workers, universities and governments -- on a vision and strategy. Mr. Palmisano will discuss the initiative and its intended impact along with National Innovation Initiative Co-Chair Wayne Clough, President, Georgia Institute of Technology; Molly Broad, President of the University of North Carolina; John S. Hennessy, President, Stanford University; Patricia J Russo*, Chairman and CEO of Lucent Technologies; and W.J. Sanders III, Founder and Chairman, Advanced Micro Devices. Panel 2. -- Global Networks and the Security Imperative The Networks and Security panel will address the progress that has been achieved in areas such as financial services, energy, and IT sectors over the past year and the challenges that remain to be met in securing America economic infrastructure in a world of global networks. Charles M. Vest, President of MIT, will start the panel discussion with an overview of the results of the 2003 Competitiveness and Security Survey, a follow-up to last year's Council on Competitiveness survey. He will be joined on the panel by Catherine Allen, CEO, BITS, Financial Services Roundtable; Tom Balanoff, President, Service Employees International Union, Local 1; Robert R. Bishop, Chairman and CEO, Silicon Graphics, Inc.; and Robert M. Gates, President, Texas A&M University. Panel 3. -- Accelerating the Global Economic Engine The Global panel will examine the key factors needed to accelerate the global economic engine, review some of the barriers to overcome and begin to identify policies and actions that would support global economic growth while safeguarding US competitiveness. Raymond V Gilmartin, Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co, Inc., will present an overview on the issues. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, Senior Vice President, The Boeing Company will moderate the panel. He will be joined by Morton Bahr, President of the Communications Workers of America; Ray Stata, Chairman, Analog Devices, Inc.; and Lawrence Summers, President, Harvard University. In addition to these three panels, the 200 conferees will hear a luncheon keynote address from Daniel Yergin, Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates. * To be confirmed DATASOURCE: Council on Competitiveness CONTACT: Bill Booher of the Council on Competitiveness, +1-202-969-3385, or Web site: http://www.compete.org/

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