Philippe de Marcillac
Senior Vice President, International Business Units, IDC Asia/Pacific

We are at a unique crossroads in the history of the ICT industry, as rapid changes in the economic landscape converge with rapid changes in the ICT landscape. Asia is rising as an economic power, while the U.S. and Western European economies face the constraints of demographics, such as aging and no or slow-growth populations, along with mounting fiscal constraints, trade imbalances and deficits.

At the same time, mobility, voice-over IP, RFID, convergence, software-oriented architectures, grid and utility computing, offshore sourcing and other trends, are changing the way businesses and consumers interact with technology. Innovation is flourishing. What does this mean for Asia? On the one hand, there is the opportunity to use its vast talent pool to offload work from the developed world, or to leapfrog established economies in the use of the latest technology. On the other hand, it also means increasing demand for IT sophistication, complex enterprise applications, intellectual property protection, security and privacy, transparency, and IT governance.

Mr. Gantz will pull together IDC's latest forecasts and thought leadership to put all of these issues in context, which will help you plan your business strategies and directions moving forward.

Mr. Gantz will aim to answer the following questions:

• Where does Asia fit on the world stage?
  
• Can India remain the offshoring capital of the world?
  
• Can China automate fast enough?
  
• Are there opportunities elsewhere?
  
• What's a vendor to do?
  
• What's a CIO or user to do?
  

As a specialist in cross border mergers, acquisitions and disposals and having led assignments in Asia, Europe and the U.S., Richard is well placed to share his insights on the major issues and challenges facing Boards and senior management. He will explore some of the critical success factors and challenges facing technology businesses and highlight some emerging trends coming out of the sector in the U.S.

In his presentation Richard will discuss:

• Critical success factors in achieving sustainable growth
• Financial challenges
• Lessons from the U.S. tech sector
• Implications for Asia Pacific companies and subsidiaries
  

Managing intellectual property rights (IPR) is critical to a company's financial performance and is in keeping with good corporate governance standards. The root causes of problems in this area are complex, however some companies are now adopting a more holistic approach to the protection of their IPR, which has successfully transformed their businesses. Based on his extensive experience in Asia, Mark will discuss

• Some of the practical, proactive measures that technology companies have started taking to protect their IPR
  
• How IPR is no longer an option but is key to a company's survival, and critical for good governance
  
• The importance of a well defined IPR protection strategy and gaining support from the top of the organisation
  
• How proactive IPR strategies protect valuable assets and produce clearly identifiable revenue generating streams and cost savings

Related to this topic, KPMG has recently completed a global study that gathered data on common practices, risks, and issues associated with contractual relationships between business partners in the high technology sector. Mark will also provide an exclusive preview of KPMG's findings.