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Industry Leaders, Lawmakers Gather At 2000 World Congress On IT
U.S. politicians and American high-tech CEOs made their mark on the international technology marketplace this week at the 2000 World Congress on Information Technology, hosted in Taiwan by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance.
Cisco CEO John Chambers predicted that network-based electronic commerce will account for $524 billion over the next five years, while Red Hat CEO Bob Young stressed the need for more open source and transport technologies to help continue propelling the international technology boom.
"I've seen three great shifts in this industry," Young said at the biannual summit that more than 1,700 industry leaders from 86 countries. "The first was the mini-computer revolution. The second was the PC revolution. Then came the Internet. The open-source movement is the fourth great shift."
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in a speech on Tuesday emphasized how the Internet is driving the new economy, and that the era of the PC is not dead, but evolving. The next generation of PCs, he predicted, will allow for more constant and personal connection to the Web.
President Shui-bian Chen hosted both Chambers and Gates in meetings Tuesday where the Cisco chief echoed the sentiment of creating a lifelong partnership with Taiwan to aid its competitiveness and technology education. Gates applauded the efforts of the Republic of China to host the WCIT 2000 as a good opportunity for all IT figures to interact and seeking new partnerships.
Beyond industry leaders, several politicians attended the conferences as prelude to the United States-Republic of China Business Council meetings that commence Wednesday. Gov. James Gilmore, R-VA, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Electronic Commerce, attended the meeting as part of an effort to lure more international trade to the booming high-tech economy in Virginia, which is home to such industry giants as America Online. Gilmore also encouraged keeping the Internet "free from unnecessary taxes" or tariffs, a key sentiment he forwarded as the head of the congressional Internet tax commission.
Sen. John Rockefeller, D-WV, emphasized four challenges for the new economy: overcoming the digital divide, increasing education investments, boosting consumer confidence on the Internet and increasing research and development. "It is in both our best interest to work together to promote and ensure long term economic growth, solid investment in the future and real protection of the public interest."
Taiwan Aims To Bolster IT Reputation
In addition to being a mere "good opportunity" for networking, the 2000 World Congress on Information Technology helped to establish Taiwan as a premier IT country, accounting for the second largest economy in Asia, the seventh largest foreign investor, and a leader in semi-conductor manufacturing.
In speeches at the conference, industry leaders promised larger investments in Taiwan. Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said Monday that H-P would purchase $4.5 billion in IT products from Taiwan this year. Cisco CEO John Chambers announced that his company would double its purchases from Taiwan over the next two years.
The Asian marketplace is likely to be the center of the fastest technology growth. Chambers said that Asia’s potential growth in Internet access could reach as high as 1000 percent a year. Cisco is behind the overall design of the Taipei GigaPop plan, a broadband fiber optic network infrastructure that will supply high-speed network connections for educational research in Taipei.
Sweden Takes A Byte At Crime Prevention
Traditional crime fighting is headed to cyberspace. Sweden is taking steps to integrate its crime reporting methods with online filings from crime victims. Ulf Rodin, assistant chief of the Stockholm police department told APBnews.com, "We feel the Web site can make us more effective and give our citizens better service." The idea behind the Web site is to address minor crimes that are often overlooked.
Internet VAT
Now that a European Commission panel has outlined plans for applying a value added tax to electronic goods and services, some in the United States are crying foul. "The [Clinton] administration has serious concerns with both the substance and process associated with the European Commission's proposal regarding the application of value added taxes to one form of electronic commerce," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat in a statement. "Policy issues are extraordinarily complex and, in some cases, could have effects outside the taxation area." Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, R, took the opportunity during the Taiwan conference to criticize the EC’s decision. Guenter Burghardt, the European Union's ambassador to the United States, cautioned on Tuesday, "I think (you) should not overreact on the United States side. There are technical problems that need to be solved."
- by Maureen Sirhal
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