TFI Encourages Early Adopter Technology Policies for US

AUSTIN, Texas, June 2004--The country will lose its ability to take advantage of technology unless it focuses on devising policies that encourage an open, standards-based infrastructure and positioning U.S. organizations as early adapters to information technology developments. This was noted by David Smith, technology forecaster/futurist and Vice President, of Technology Futures, Inc. (TFI), during a keynote presentation at the first-ever "U.S. Senate Conference on Emerging Technologies" in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.

Speaking to an audience of over 1,000 Senators, staff, and committee members, Mr. Smith stated, "The information avalanche we are presently experiencing and the technological challenges this presents our country demands that, rather than concentrating only on the present, we must put added emphasis on studying where technology is going and how we can best harness it to our advantage."

Mr. Smith has developed several megatrend forecasts to help achieve this end.

Technology Megatrends:

• An information age increasingly driven by needs for precision, accuracy, and timeliness in all of our endeavors-personal, business, and governmental.
• A continuing major revolution in IT growth in such areas as the internet, wireless and wired communications, mobile applications, and electronic commerce.
• Information technology becoming ubiquitous and expanding within the private, business, and global worlds. Every device becomes a server.
• Quality of life improvements in such areas as smart appliances, cars, highways, and buildings, easier access to knowledge, and revolutionary new concepts in health-related fields.
• An increasingly mobile and global society becoming ever more reliant on a worldwide availability of information.

Mr. Smith has been actively involved in technology management and forecasting for over 25 years. He is an internationally renowned educator, author, and consultant in technology forecasting/strategy, technology/market integration, and technology management in uncertain environments. Mr. Smith's views on technology trends have been prominently featured in Business Week and American Demographics, among many other publications. (An electronic copy of his photo can be found under Press Materials.)

Mr. Smith is happy to be quoted and/or interviewed on the subject of technology trends. Other TFI staff members are also always glad to give input toward technology and telecom trends. We invite you to peruse our Press Room to learn more about us. A list of many of our citations can be found at TFI News.

For more than 25 years, TFI has provided sound, credible projections of the future that reflect reality and imagination. We offer outstanding technology forecasting, strategic planning, trend analysis, and strategic market research services in high-technology and telecom technologies. Drawing on proven, quantifiable forecasting methods and strategic applications, we combine the vision of the futurist with the down-to-earth judgment of the technologist to be "Your Bridge to the Future."

PRESS CONTACT:

Ms. Carrie Vanston, Media Relations Director
Los Angeles Office (323) 436-0314, cvanston@tfi.com

Please contact Ms. Carrie Vanston with any questions or to interview Mr. Smith and/or the TFI staff on technology trends, telecom trends, and technology forecasting principles. If you need assistance immediately and Ms. Vanston is unavailable, please contact the corporate offices in Austin at (512) 258-8898 or (800) 835-3887.

Thank you for your attention.

June 2004
Technology Futures, Inc.
13740 Research Boulevard, Building C
Austin, TX 78750
(800) 835-3887 or (512) 258-8898
Fax: (512) 258-0087