News for and about the Internet2 community

["Greg Wood" <>]

MEDIA ADVISORY
Contacts:
Lisa Thompson, CRA, 202-234-2111
Josh McCloskey, Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations, 415-923-1660

THE COMPUTING RESEARCH ASSOCIATION AND THE TECHNOLOGY NETWORK TO HOST NEWS
CONFERENCE ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST.  TECHNOLOGY LEADERS WILL CALL ON
POLICYMAKERS TO ENSURE FULL SUPPORT FOR INVESTMENTS IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

Washington, DC (August 30, 1999) - The Computing Research Association and
the Technology Network (TechNet) will host a news conference at 1:00 pm EST
on Wednesday, September 1, 1999, at the National Press Club, Zenger Room,
(529 14th Street NW, 13th floor) to discuss the implications of pending
budget cuts for widely supported proposals to expand the federal investment
in information technology research. Five distinguished leaders in the
information technology field will appear at the news conference to make
brief remarks and respond to questions:

*       Eric A. Benhamou - Chairman and CEO, 3Com Corporation; Member,
Executive Council, The Technology Network; PITAC Member

*       Vinton Cerf - Senior Vice President for Internet Architecture and
Technology, MCI WorldCom;  PITAC Member

*       Ken Kennedy - Ann and John Doerr Professor of Computational
Engineering and Director, Center for Research on Parallel Computation, Rice
University; PITAC Member and former Co-Chair

*       Edward Lazowska - Board Chair, Computing Research Association;
Chair, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of
Washington

*       David C. Nagel - Chief Technology Officer, AT&T and President, AT&T
Labs; PITAC Member

In addition, a forthcoming statement of the President's Information
Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) will be released at the news
conference. The PITAC statement will underscore the importance of providing
full funding for proposed increases in information technology research and
the negative impact on America's future of proposed budget cuts.
Appropriations bills currently before the Congress would cut such funding by
as much as 70 percent.

This and other written statements from various corporate leaders and
advocacy and policy organizations, also to be released on Wednesday, will
call on the President and the Congress to work together to ensure full
support for a strategic program of broad based, long-term information
technology research, a proposal originated by the PITAC and embodied in the
Administration's Information Technology for the Twenty-First Century
initiative and bipartisan legislation, the Networking and Information
Technology Research and Development Act (H.R. 2086), authored by House
Science Committee Chair James Sensenbrenner.

About Computing Research Association:

The Computing Research Association (CRA) is an association of more than 180
North American academic departments of computer science and computer
engineering; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia
engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies.
For more information on CRA please see http://www.cra.org

About TechNet:

TechNet is a national bipartisan political network. Its mission is to help
its members build working relationships with national and state political
leaders and pass federal and state laws that will help foster the New
Economy. Its primary public policy priorities for 1999 are: to strengthen
the nation's investment in basic research by enacting a permanent R&D tax
credit and increasing federal funding for basic research, to protect current
accounting rules for business combinations and stock options, and to improve
K-12 education.  For more information on TechNet please see
http://www.technetwork.org

Contacts:
Lisa Thompson, CRA, 202-234-2111
Josh McCloskey, Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations, 415-923-1660

#  #  #




***************************************
Lisa A. Thompson
Director of Government Affairs
Computing Research Association
1100 17th Street NW, Suite 507
Washington, DC  20036
202-234-2111 / 202-667-1066 fax

http://www.cra.org/main/cra.gov.html


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