January 21, 1999 presentation of:

What to Do about the NewWorld of Information

Speaker

Professor Michael L. Dertouzos, Director of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science

Moderator

Dr. Robert Metcalfe, Vice President of Technology at International Data Group

Profile

MIT Enterprise Forum Satellite Broadcast o Feature Michael Dertouzos, January 21, 1999

Professor Michael L. Dertouzos will be the featured speaker at the multi-site Satellite Broadcast from MIT's Kresge Auditorium on January 21, 1999. Dr. Robert Metcalfe, Vice President of Technology at International Data Group, will perform as moderator. The program will start at 5:30 pm at UT-Dallas, and will include the keynote presentation entitled "What To Do" beginning at 6:00 PM, followed by an interactive session involving other downlinked sites from across the country.

"As this world becomes more visible and more believable through the growing uses of the Internet and the Web," Dertouzos said, "the question is no longer where we are headed, but rather what steps people and organizations should take to benefit from this surging revolution. How should you experiment with the new medium? Should you base your plans on telephony, cable, satellites, or wireless? How can people adapt their skills to new demands? How can poor people and poor nations come on board? What are the actual steps businesses should take to jump into this new world today? What should technologists do to make tomorrow's systems more useful? Are there steps that humanists should take? What should governments do to help their constituents play in this new arena without sacrificing their indigenous culture?"

Dertouzos is the author of What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives, which Microsoft's Bill Gates called "an engaging and visionary guide to the future, filled with insights." He is author or co-author of six other books, including Made In America: Regaining the Productive Edge. Born in Athens, Greece, he came to the U.S. for under-graduate study as a Fulbright Scholar. After receiving his Ph.D. from MIT in 1964, he joined the MIT faculty, where he is now Professor and, since 1974, Director of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. He is helping shape the new world of information as leader of LCS research and as an advisor to the Clinton/Gore (U.S.) and Bangemann (E.U.) teams. In 1995, he was a U.S. delegate to the G7 Meeting in Brussels on Global Information Infrastructures. His industrial experience includes founding and co-founding high tech companies and advising large companies. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the Athens Academy, and the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Athens College. His awards include the IEEE B. J. Thompson (best paper) award, the ASEE Terman (best educator) award and Commander of Merit of the Hellenic Republic.

Companies that have emerged from research conducted at the Laboratory for Computer Science include 3Com, Lotus, and Cirrus Logic. The world wide web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee who now heads the World Wide Web Consortium at LCS, which includes more than 150 companies and organizations from around the world.