World Congress on Information Technology in Amsterdam
Amsterdam will be a global platform for the IT industry, as the city hosts the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) from 25 to 27 May 2010. A selection of public and private parties are invited to Amsterdam to exchange ideas on how global social and economic issues can be solved with IT.
Declaration of Amsterdam
During the three days of WCIT 2010, with delegations from more than 80 countries, over 2,500 captains of industry will come together to exchange ideas on how innovative Information Technology (IT) solutions could be used to help resolve global economic and social problems. One of the outcomes of the conference will be the Declaration of Amsterdam, which will serve as a springboard for WCIT 2012 in Canada.
Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, a prime location for IT companies
The Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands will co-host the WCIT 2010. In addition to ensuring businesses have more room to innovate and that consumers exercise their rights and have a secure, clean energy supply and reliable telecommunications system, the Dutch government actively promotes the Netherlands as a prime location for IT companies.
The Netherlands, and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in particular, is increasingly becoming the IT gateway to Europe, which is creating a highly-skilled workforce and leading to new employment. The Amsterdam Area remains a popular location for international IT companies. In 2009, 25% of all international companies that moved to the Amsterdam Area were active in the IT industry.
Prominent guests
Delegates will hear speeches by approximately 200 leading international government, business, industry and academic representatives. It was announced that two prominent public figures from the Netherlands will also attend: His Royal Highness The Prince of Orange and Mrs Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda.
Mrs Kroes, who is the new EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, will address the conference on the first day, 25 May. She will highlight the role of ICT applications and implementation in the European information and knowledge society. The Prince is highly interested in the different tracks of the congress and will open the second day of the congress on 26 May.
Keynote speakers
Other keynote speakers will include Paul Otellini (CEO of Intel), Virginia Rometty (Senior Vice-President of IBM), Maria van der Hoeven (the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs), Elvira Nabiullina (the Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade), Lynn Blodgett (CEO of ACS (Xerox)), Henk Broeders (Chairman of ICT~Office), Stephen Elop (President of Microsoft’s Business Division), Pierre Hessler (Member of the Board of Directors Capgemini), and Fransisco Ros Peran, (the Spanish Minister of Telecommunications and Information and representative of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union).
Challenges of change
Safety, Creative Industries, E-Government, Mobility and Sharing Space by using IT are in addition to Water, Energy and E-Inclusion, the global themes that will be discussed during WCIT 2010.
"During the WCIT, the emphasis is not on IT itself, but on the applications of IT", says Coks Stoffer, board member of ICT~Office and chairman of the Stichting Voorbereiding WCIT. "This is of course exceptional for an IT conference. It's more about what technology can do for its users, for example in Water, E-government and Spatial Planning. Partners have been asked to develop these topics.
The Netherlands, a world leader in IT industry
Every two years, the WCIT is organised in a different country under auspices of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA). President Dan E. Khoo stressed that IT contributes to worldwide growth of the economy, which Digital Planet estimated to exceed $ 4.1 trillion in 2011. "Amsterdam has won the bid for WCIT from strong competition like Hong Kong and St. Petersburg, because the Netherlands is most certainly a world leader within the IT industry. As gateway to Europe, we are delighted that the Netherlands was chosen as the host of the 2010 World Congress on Information Technology."
By invitation only
To register for the WCIT 2010 you need a personal invitation. For more information visit WCIT.
Related topics
International internet scene in Amsterdam for Next Web
Netherlands fifth top location for IT companies
EGI chooses Amsterdam Science Park for European headquarters
The Netherlands scores high on IT list
- Tell a friend
