TIA CTO Dan Bart was among the winners when the America National Standards Institute (ANSI) announced the recipients of its 2007 Leadership and Service Awards last week.  According to ANSI, recipients are recognized for their "significant contributions to national and international standardization activities, as well as an ongoing commitment to their industry, their nation, and the enhancement of the global voluntary consensus standards system." 

Bart will receive the Howard Coonley Medal, which recognizes an executive "that has benefited the national economy through voluntary standardization and conformity assessment and has given outstanding support to standardization as a management tool."  ANSI cited Bart's active promotion of standardization programs and partnerships for the industry and his long careers with the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) and TIA.  This is Bart's second ANSI award; he won ANSI's Meritorious Service Award in 2004.

ANSI will honor Bart and other 13 recipients during an Oct. 17 ceremony held in conjunction with the U.S. celebration of World Standards Week 2007.

For questions or comments about the award, please contact Ian Martinez at 703.907.7723 or imartinez@tiaonline.org.

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The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) held its annual Aspen Summit in Colorado last week from August 19-21. The 2007 theme, “Making Markets – Critical Information Policy Choices,” focused on antitrust issues in the communications marketplace, as well as content issues such as digital rights management, free expression and online privacy. A variety of companies, non-profits, government sectors and trade associations, including TIA and its member companies, were represented at the conference.

The event kicked off with an opening keynote address by Ambassador David A. Gross, U.S. Department of State. Ambassador Gross spoke about telecommunications and the global economy. The following morning included panel discussions on topics such as “Telecommunications Policy in a Converged World” and “Property Rights and Patent Reform,” followed by a luncheon address by Federal Trade Commission Commissioner William E. Kovacic. That evening’s working group dinners allowed attendees to discuss issues concerning spectrum, online content and digital rights in a smaller group setting.

The final day of the Summit began with opening comments from First Amendment scholar Laurence Tribe of Harvard University, followed by additional panels. The conference concluded with a dinner featuring Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google. Schmidt lauded the fundamental principles of American society, particularly free expression and freedom from government suppression. He also answered questions regarding his company’s responsibility to ensure online safety, intellectual property rights, and online advertising.

For questions or comments about TIA's involvement in the Aspen Summit please contact Rebecca Schwartz at 703.907.7477 or rschwartz@tiaonline.org.

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TIA will have a strong presence at the Telephony LIVE summit this Oct. 10-11, with President Grant Seiffert participating in a key panel, and TIA members qualifying for discounts on registration.  The summit will address industry questions on the converged services, video services and enterprise services sectors.

The two-day summit, at the Westin Park Central in Dallas, features industry speakers and networkers from Clearwire, Verizon Communications, Time Warner Telecom, Tellabs, NewEdge Networks and others.  Seiffert will sit on an Oct. 10 panel, Technologies for the Transformation, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.  The panel will be comprised of high-level network technology convergence and integration experts, with a focus on the evolution of communications networks.

The panel will be moderated by a Telephony editor and will take place in an executive roundtable format. It will be followed by the presentation of the Telephony Innovation Awards and a cocktail reception.

TIA members will save $100 on registration by using the promo code TIA01.

For more information, see the Telephony LIVE site or register now for reduced rates.  TIA members can also contact Florence Sumaray at 703.907.7471 or fsumaray@tiaonline.org for more information.

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The Corporate Council on Africa will host the second annual U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference in Washington, D.C., October 8-10, 2007. The conference has obvious interest for TIA members, as Africa is an emerging market with much room for broadband and wireless development.

According to its mission statement, the Corporate Council on Africa is "a member organization dedicated to the increase and enhancement of investment and trade in Africa," and the conference will focus on investment and trade opportunities in key African growth sectors such as air, sea, road and rail transportation; urban development; water and sanitation; energy; maritime and food security; and information and communications technology.

Some key infrastructure-related sponsors of the conference include GE, Raytheon, and DynCorp International.

For more information on the conference, please visit http://www.africacncl.org/Events/Infrastructure_Conference_2007.asp.

For question or comments please contact Adina Ellis of the Corporate Council at aellis@africacncl.org.

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At this year's BICSI Fall Conference, you'll notice senior TIA staff present at our booth, proudly highlighting our TR-42 Engineering Committee and the work it does with BICSI that benefits so many of our members.

TIA’s Committee TR-42 User Premises Telecommunications Infrastructure develops and maintains voluntary standards for telecommunications cabling infrastructure in user-owned buildings such as commercial buildings, residential buildings, homes, data centers and industrial buildings. TR-42 works with BICSI, as it is the biggest driving force in the design and installation of code- and standards-based telecommunications systems. 

BICSI's Fall Conference 2007 is September 10-13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. TIA will hold a drawing for a free copy of its 2007 Market Review & Forecast and will be present to educate all conference attendees on TR-42 standards and the benefits of TIA membership.

For questions regarding TR-42, please contact Stephanie Montgomery at 703.907.7735 or smontgomery@tiaonline.org. 

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TIA is proud to announce its sponsorship of this year's 17th Biennial Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) Conference, at the Marriott San Mateo and San Francisco Airport, August 23-25.

TIA has a long history of working with the hearing-impaired community on standards and technologies, including our recent success with the TIA-1083 cordless interference standard, already in production.

Comments from TIA President Grant Seiffert will be presented at the opening of the show.

For more information about this conference or TDI's work in this area, please visit http://tdi-online.org.

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Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs research organization was honored last week with the U.S. Department of Commerce's "Recognition of Excellence in Innovation" certificate. The award recognizes the group's continuing role in generating innovations and technologies that are at the core of today's cutting-edge voice, data and video solutions for service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide.

The award was presented by Robert Cresanti, Senior Technology Advisor, Office of the Secretary of Commerce, and Chief Privacy Officer for the Department, and accepted by Dr. Jeong H. Kim, President of Bell Labs, in a ceremony at the group's Murray Hill, N.J., facility.

TIA President Grant Seiffert also participated in the presentation in recognition of the valuable contributions of one of the association's most active members. 

"Above all else, what stands out about Bell Labs is the way in which you are innovating innovation itself. You have begun to overcome the Achilles heel that has plagued many large companies that fail to commercialize the gems of research that materialize within their R&D organizations," said Cresanti.

For questions about this award please contact Ian Martinez at 703.907.7723 or imartinez@tiaonline.org.

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