May 15, 2003
Contact: Rizopoulos Giannis; JRizopoulos@cnc.gr; +30 2 10 6889100
The
preparations for the most important
global event in the IT industry are under way
Athens,
Greece - Greece
is
fully
capable
of
playing
an
important
role
in
Southeastern
Europe,
in
ICT,
while
large
multinational companies pick up Athens as a hub for their activities, the city
of wisdom and vision.
This
idea came up again and again during the Press Conference held yesterday, in a
central Athens hotel, regarding the 14th World Congress 2004 on IT (WCIT
2004), which will be hosted by SEPE, the
Federation of Hellenic Information Technology & Communications Enterprises.
The organization of the Congress was awarded to SEPE three years ago by WITSA,
the World Information technology & Services Alliance. WCIT 2004, which is
considered one of the most important events in this sector, will take place in
Athens, on 19 - 21 May, 2004, and will be preceded by a Business Forum, on the
17th and
18th.
The
honorary speaker at the Press Conference was the Minister of Interior, Public
Administration and Decentralization, Kostas Skandalidis, who pointed out that
the hosting of WCIT –the Ministry fully supports the Congress as the official
Pinnacle Sponsor- is a very special honor for our country.
«I am quite sure that the Congress hosted by SEPE will succeed and will be
combined in a most harmonic way with the Athens Olympics. Technology,
civilization and the spirit of competition, the thirst for distinction and
reward are the basic components of our vision for the future. The Greek State
support to the success of the Congress will be full and real. WITSA’s
effort to promote the benefits from the use of high technology in every human
activity is quite important and nobody could disagree on that. Information and
Telecommunications Technologies is the new vehicle that should unite, facilitate
the creativity, pull down the barriers of fantasy and enthusiasm, contribute to
a better quality of life. It should widen the horizons of education and
facilitate the spreading of civilization, towards the Knowledge Society», the
Minister declared.
The
host of the event, the Chairman of SEPE, Athanasios Pouliadis, pointed out that
"The WCIT 2004 is a challenge for our industry as it will coincide
with an expected market growth after a long and extremely painful period of
stagnancy. We will be asked to accelerate the implementation of very important
projects for all sectors, as they depend more and more on Information Technology
and Communications. Our resources must be regrouped in order to respond to this
challenge and increase, in this way, the specific weight that ICT plays in the
economic and social growth worldwide and in each country". He added that
“the Congress offers
a unique opportunity to demonstrate the significance of technology to the growth
of every national economy, as well as its contribution in order to bridge the
digital, social and geographical divides” and concluded by saying that
"Greece is at a turning point in 2004, hosting the two most important
events worldwide: The Summer Olympics and WCIT! We are confident we will make
both an unprecedented success!"
"The
World Congress in Athens next year will be the single most important global
event in the IT industry," said Harris N. Miller, WITSA President
and President of the American IT Association.
"It is often said that all of philosophy is merely a footnote to the
greatest of all philosophers, Plato. Similarly, all other IT events will be a
footnote to the World Congress." Mr. Miller declared. "The Congress
will provide an historic opportunity for Greece to showcase its technology and
innovation to an international audience. And the Greek IT community will welcome
industry, government and academic luminaries from around the globe to the city
that will demonstrate its place as a global IT leader, in addition to being the
host of the Olympics" he
added.
The last speaker, WCIT 2004 CEO Dimos Vatikiotis, said that the preparations for the World Congress are well under way. “The response of enterprises and organizations in Greece as well as abroad is definitely positive. Which is quite natural, as the possibilities offered by WCIT in order to analyze the current situation and forecast the trends and directions of the world market just listening to the most well-known opinion leaders, and the opportunities to develop new business relations, seem to attract entrepreneurs, from all over the world. That is why WCIT 2004 will sure prove to be –one more time- the focal point of interest, in May 2004, as all the eyes in the world ICT market will be turned towards Athens”.