Media Information
Archived Press Releases
George Soros Named Chair of Internet Summit Conference Sponsorship Committee
Washington, D.C. February 27, 1998. The Internet Society announced that world renowned financier and philanthropist George Soros is serving as the Chairman of the Sponsorship Committee for its INET'98 conference that takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, July 21-24, 1998. Mr. Soros is leading a team to raise more than one million dollars (US) for the conference.
"As the annual summit of Internet design and policy leaders," said Mr. Soros, "INET is a key part of the Internet Society's role to enhance the Internet as a self-regulated, global, public resource. My personal support for INET, and the Internet Society, is led by the belief that the free flow of information is one of the best ways to protect the freedom and the openness of society."
INET'98 is preceded by a workshop for educators, a Developing Countries Networking Symposium, 11 technical tutorials, and a Network Technology Workshop that teaches people from developing countries how to design, install and maintain Internet networks. More than 2,000 people are expected to attend from over 100 countries. They include the most active users and developers of the Internet, from business, government, and academia.
"We are very honored to have someone of George Soros' prestige and accomplishments supporting INET'98," said Donald M. Heath, president and CEO of the Internet Society. "We have similar interests. His foundations have invested heavily in bringing Internet technology to Eastern Europe and elsewhere. And virtually every Internet network established in the past five years in Eastern Europe and elsewhere has been implemented with the support of our Network Technology Workshop graduates."
The Internet Society's annual INET conference is the premier international event for Internet professionals. INET'98 is the crossroads at which the world's leaders and pioneers of cyberspace meet. Corporate leaders, industry and government representatives, network technologists, and legal, policy and social experts, among others, exchange experiences, share information, and plan their next steps that will shape the future of the Internet. INET'98 will address the impact of the Internet on commerce, education, and societies throughout the world. Multiple conference tracks will address critical issues ranging from network engineering to user needs, from regulatory issues to the Internet's role as a conduit for social change, and from the transformation of education to the redefinition of commerce. Information on INET'98 is available on the Internet at <http://www.isoc.org/inet98>
Supporting Mr. Soros are Werner Staub, principal with Axone Consulting Services (Geneva), who is focusing on fund raising in Switzerland and nearby areas; and Claude Lemay, president and CEO of Alis Technologies (Montreal), who is seeking sponsorships internationally.
Internet Summit - Background Information
Internet Society Background:
The Internet Society <http://www.isoc.org> is a non-profit, non-governmental, international, professional membership organization that brings diverse interests and factions together to hammer out reasonable solutions that generate progress and growth for the Internet. Its organizational and individual members from more than 150 countries represent a veritable who's who of the Internet community.
Since 1992, the Internet Society has served as the international organization for global coordination and cooperation on the Internet, promoting and maintaining a broad spectrum of activities focused on the Internet's development, availability, and associated technologies. The Internet Society coordinates Internet-related initiatives around the world. Through its Internet standardization activities, annual INET conference, developing-country training workshops, tutorials, publications, public policy activities, chapters, committees and an international secretariat, the Internet Society serves the needs of the growing global Internet community.
George Soros Background:
George Soros <http://www.soros.org/gsbio.html> was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1930. He emigrated in 1947 to England, where he graduated from the London School of Economics, and in 1956 to the United States, where he began to accumulate a large fortune through an international investment fund he founded and managed.
Mr. Soros established his first foundation, the Open Society Fund, in New York in 1979, his first Eastern European foundation in Hungary in 1984, and the Soros Foundation-Soviet Union in 1987. He now funds a network of foundations <http://www.soros.org/> that operate in 31 countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Central Eurasia, as well as South Africa, Haiti, Guatemala, and the United States. These foundations are dedicated to building and maintaining the infrastructure and institutions of an open society. Soros has also founded other major institutions, such as the Central European University and the International Science Foundation. During the past four years, the foundations in the network spent US$1.2 billion.
In addition to many articles on the political and economic changes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Mr. Soros is the author of The Alchemy of Finance, published by Simon & Schuster in 1987 and republished in 1994 by John Wiley & Sons; Opening the Soviet System, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in 1990; and Underwriting Democracy, published by The Free Press in 1991. Mr. Soros' most recent book, Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve, was published by John Wiley & Sons in September1995.
Mr. Soros has received honorary doctoral degrees from the New School for Social Research, the University of Oxford, the Budapest University of Economics, and Yale University. In 1995, the University of Bologna awarded Mr. Soros its highest honor, the Laurea Honoris Causa, in recognition of his efforts to promote open societies throughout the world.
Mr. Soros is Chairman of Soros Fund Management LCC, a private investment management firm that serves as principal investment advisor to the Quantum Group of Funds. The Quantum Fund N.V., the oldest and largest fund within the Quantum Group, is generally recognized as having the best performance record of any investment fund in the world in its 28-year history.
Claude Lemay Background:
After 15 years as a lawyer in international trade, Claude Lemay became CEO of Alis Technologies Inc. <http://www.alis.com/> in 1986. Since then, he has devoted himself to promoting the company around the world. Mr. Lemay is also involved in a number of professional associations in the high-tech community and serves as Chairman or member on the boards of many public and private corporations in the information technologies field. From 1991 to 1994, he served on the Canadian Advanced Technology Association (CATA) as Chairman of the Board. In 1995, he was asked to be part of the INET'96 (Montreal) Organizing Committee as Chair of Fund-Raising. In 1997, he became Chair of International Sponsorships for the Internet Society for INET'97 (Kuala Lumpur) and for INET'98.
Mr. Lemay speaks six languages and is highly involved in the investment community. From 1992 to 1995, he was a member of the Board of Societe Innovatech du Grand Montreal, a $300 million investment fund. In 1996, he was appointed to the Technology Partnerships Canada Advisory Board, a $350 million advanced technology fund. Mr. Lemay acts internationally on behalf of CATA and the Quebec and Canadian governments.
Incorporated in 1981, Alis Technologies excels at language implementation in the information technology industry, specifically for the Internet and intranets. Alis provides integrated solutions by bringing together its own core technology and that of top partners in the translation industry, to help large organizations solve their language communication and translation problems. Alis Technologies plays a leading role on international committees such as W3C, the Internet Society and the Unicode Consortium which steer the development of Internet and language standards. Alis' head office is located in Montreal with field offices in Ottawa, Paris, Dubai, Cairo, Tokyo and Hong Kong, as well as sales infrastructures in the United States.
Werner Staub Background:
Werner Staub <http://www.axone.ch/WernerStaub.htm> is a co-founder and partner at Axone <http://www.axone.ch/>. He graduated in Economics from the Ecole des HEC of University of Lausanne in 1985, and later completed a postgraduate masters program in Business Information Systems. Staub is a member of the Derivative Commission of the Swiss Exchange. Axone Services & Développement SA (based in Geneva, Switzerland) was founded in 1991 and specializes in language and software consulting services for marketing, corporate communications and education in the fields of finance and technology. The company has extensive experience in computer-based tools for marketing and education in abstract fields like financial instruments, risk management, software systems and multi-platform/multi-channel publications. Its customer base includes leading financial institutions, exchanges, and finance-related organizations around the world.
Contacts:
Martin Burack,
Executive Director, Internet Society
<burack@isoc.org>
voice: +1
703 648 9888
Alan McCluskey,
INET'98 Media Relations Chair
<alan@connected.org>
voice:
+41 32 763 03 44
mobile: +41 79 637 28 59
