The Southern Technology Council, the Council on Competitiveness, the Georgia Research Alliance and Georgia Institute of Technology will host an Innovation Summit on October 31, 2005.

This summit is the first of the regional summits that will discuss how to implement the National Innovation Initiatives recommended by a national summit last December. The Council on Competitiveness will hold its 2005 national meeting in conjunction with this southeast summit.

Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough and BellSouth CEO Duane Ackerman will welcome business, government and thought leaders to the Georgia Tech campus.
The summit will concentrate on "Exploring the South's Potential for Innovation Leadership."

More than 20 prominent CEOs, university presidents and civic leaders will discuss the South's assets and needs to make the region an innovation leader.

When: October 31, 2005 at 8 A.M. Eastern Standard Time

Where: Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center - Technology Square
800 Spring Street NW

Who: Prominent names in American business, labor, education and governance including:
F. Duane Ackerman, Chairman and CEO, BellSouth Corporation
Sandy K. Baruah, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development
Arden Bement Jr., Director, National Science Foundation
C. Garry Betty, President and CEO, Earthlink
James Blanchard, Chairman of the Board, Synovus
Governor Kathleen Blanco, Louisiana
Jim Clinton, Executive Director, Southern Growth Policies Board
Molly Corbett Broad, President, University of North Carolina
William Brody, Chairman, National Innovation Initiative and President, Johns Hopkins University
C. Michael Cassidy, President and CEO, Georgia Research Alliance
G. Wayne Clough, President, Georgia Institute of Technology
Emily S. DeRocco, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training
Nicholas M. Donofrio, Executive Vice President, Innovation and Technology, IBM Corporation
Robert C. Dynes, President, University of California System
Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
E. Floyd Kvamme, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
C. Dan Mote Jr., President, University of Maryland
Lori A. Perine, Executive Director, American Forest & Paper Association
Governor Sonny Purdue, Georgia
Robert Reynolds, Vice Chairman and COO, Fidelity Investments
James B. Roberto, Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Michael C. Ruettgers, Chairman of the Board, EMC Corporation
David A. Sampson, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce
Charles W. Steger Jr., President, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President, Council on Competitiveness

Summit Agenda: http://www.southern.org/main/STC/SI2/agenda.shtml

RSVP: All members of the media interested in attending should RSVP to Georgia Tech Media Relations.

Contact:
Matt Nagel
Georgia Tech Media Relations
404-894-7460
matthew.nagel@icpa.gatech.edu

About Southern Growth Policies Board
Southern Growth Policies Board is a non-partisan public policy think tank based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Formed by the region's governors in 1971, Southern Growth Policies Board develops and advances visionary economic development policies by providing a forum for collaboration among a diverse cross-section of the region's governors, legislators, business and academic leaders and the economic- and community-development sectors. Supported by the governments of 13 southern states and Puerto Rico, Southern Growth provides its members, and the region, with authoritative research, discussion forums and pilot projects in the areas of technology and innovation, globalization, workforce development, community development, civic engagement and leadership. To learn more about Southern Growth Policies Board, visit www.southern.org.

About The Council on Competitiveness
An organization of the top business, university and labor leaders in the United States, the Council on Competitiveness is responsible for influencing the course of American competitiveness on regional, national and global scales. The Council stands unique in its ability to anticipate and respond to changing economic conditions through a series of comprehensive programs to maintain competitiveness and security, support innovation, benchmark national competitiveness and shape public policy. The Council is available on the Web at http://www.compete.org.