For Immediate Release 

Susan Barich
Silicon Valley World Internet Center
650-462-9800
barich@worldinternetcenter.com

IBM's John Patrick And High-Tech Executives Debate The Next Generation Of The Internet

Internet Thought Leader Lays Out His Vision Of The Future At The Silicon Valley World Internet Center

PALO ALTO, CA -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 11/21/2000 -- The next generation of the Internet will be a network that is fast, always on, everywhere, natural, easy, intelligent and trusted, John Patrick, IBM's Vice President of Internet Technology and one of the Internet's leading visionaries will tell an audience of some 80 technologists, entrepreneurs, students and futurists at the Silicon Valley World Internet Center.

The group will gather to debate and discuss the nature of the next iteration of the Internet with Patrick at this Challenge-the-Expert program at the Center. Patrick will also put forth his ideas on where the B2B eMarketplaces are headed.

According to Patrick, "The next generation Internet will have a profound impact on the way people do business, the way they interact with others and, more importantly, will provide significant advances in ease-of-life."

Patrick spearheads a task force at IBM focused on the next generation of the Internet. He is Chairman of the Global Internet Project and a Founding Member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Patrick helped start IBM's leasing business at IBM Credit Corporation and was senior marketing executive for the launch of the IBM ThinkPad brand. Since the early 1990's, Patrick has dedicated his time to fostering Internet technologies.

The program begins at 6:00 p.m. sharp and lasts till 8:00 p.m. at the Center, which is located in the historic Stanford Barn in Palo Alto. Patrick will give an overview of his assessment of the future of the Internet, and then the audience will be invited to engage in a knowledge exchange with Patrick for the remainder of the program

IBM Corporation (http://www.ibm.com) is an Executive Sponsor of the Center (http://www.worldinternetcenter.com), a combination think tank and showcase for the advancement of Internet technologies and markets. The Center provides its Sponsors with programming throughout the year through a fee-for-services agreement.

REGISTRATION to attend the program is not necessary but highly recommended due to limited capacity. To register and for further information, contact: Sara K. Dean mailto:sdean@worldinternetcenter.com

SILICON VALLEY WORLD INTERNET CENTER

The Center, a dynamic think tank, showcase and collaboration facility for the advancement of eMarkets and Internet-related technologies, is currently sponsored by key companies in the Internet revolution: Amdocs, Inc., Deutsche Telekom, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation, Metiom, SAP, and Sun Microsystems.