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While technology is no stranger to Steve Ballmer, president and
CEO of Microsoft, he is still fascinated by it. This was evident
from his enthusiastic presentation held in mid July at the RCGA’s
Town Hall Forum at America’s Center. In addressing a crowd of
some 775 people, he talked about the creativity and adaptability
of computers. “Whatever they need to be, they are. They keep spreading
their definition and continue to morph themselves to be used for
new applications.”
He also commented on the power of computers. “Every year-and-a-half
the processing power becomes thousands of times more powerful.
Computers are an amazing resource.”
And now, they are becoming more powerful, thanks to the Internet,
the future for which Ballmer has very high expectations. “The
Internet is a nascent technology,” he states, “which is now difficult
to use and far less efficient than it could be.” He says the software
products Microsoft is developing will change that, enabling users
to draw information from multiple Web sites simultaneously and
to communicate with a variety of devices.
He offers shopping as an example, “Instead of shopping at individual
stores online, we’ll be able to drag in the stores we like, say
Pier One, Tiffany’s and Nordstrums, and then filter out the material
that meets specified criteria.
“In travel, when we book a flight, the computer will enter the
information on the calendar of the person we’re visiting. And,
if the flight is late, the person will be contacted automatically
via voice mail, pager, palm pilot, or whatever.
“In health care, we’ll be able to maintain our own health records.”
He concludes, “The world will change and evolve and computers
will continue to have amazing tremendous positive impact.”
Ballmer also recognized the St. Louis region’s efforts to position
St. Louis nationally and internationally as a high-tech center
through the RCGA, the Technology Gateway Alliance, and the region’s
colleges and universities.
Special thanks to Town Hall Forum corporate sponsors Bryan
Cave LLP; G.A. Sullivan; and PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP; and to media sponsors KMOX News/Talk 1120 and
the St. Louis Business Journal for helping to make
this a successful event.
Alliance with Microsoft Positions RCGA as “Flagship” New Economy
Chamber
To further support the growth of the region’s high-tech economy,
the RCGA and Microsoft Corporation have partnered to install the
Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system, the Microsoft Office
2000 suite of desktop applications, and an organization-wide “digital
dashboard”—making the RCGA one of the first chambers of commerce
in the nation to use this new product.
The Microsoft solutions bring the RCGA increased speed, reliability,
scalability and manageability for all computer functions. As part
of this joint venture, the RCGA has updated its entire computer
infrastructure—installing a new server; providing remote access
capability for employees to their e-mail and all types of files;
increasing Internet capabilities; and upgrading the full Microsoft
Office 2000 suite of desktop applications.
RCGA leaders will use the new “digital dashboard” with 24-7, single-click
access to all relevant personal, team, organizational and external
business information.
One, Inc., TechSkills.com and G.A. Sullivan — all Microsoft partners
and Technology Gateway Alliance members—are assisting the RCGA
with migration, training and implementation respectively.
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