Conference Draws Experts and Execs from Three Continents

Chris De Bleser, yet2.com CEO, sets the
conference tone.

Over 100 top decision-makers from some of the world´s largest corporations gathered in Amsterdam during the last week of September for the third yet2.com international executive conference on the best ways to maximize return on R&D investments. Organized by yet2.com and co-sponsored by Royal Philips Electronics and Shell Global Solutions, the conference brought together representatives of global technology leaders to foster sharing of knowledge and experience related to technology transfer. Entitled Managing Technology in the E-Commerce World, the conference offered the unprecedented opportunity for the world´s technology-rich companies to learn from one another about ways to maximize return on R&D investments through technology transfer and the use of such tools as yet2.com.

The session featured an impressive array of speakers, including Michiel Boersma, Chief Executive Officer of Shell Global Solutions, and four Chief Technology Officers: Mr. Gordon Brunner of Procter and Gamble, Dr. Ad Huijser of Royal Philips Electronics, Mr. Norio Omori of Denso Corporation, and Dr. Werner Rutsch of Ciba Specialty Chemicals. These speakers explained ways in which their organizations were able to use new methods to capitalize on the huge investment that they´ve made in research and development activities. In addition to the impressive speaker list, other Amsterdam attendees were a distinguished group of senior-level executives including the Chairman of the Board of Hitachi Chemical Co., Mr. Takeshi Tanno, several Chief Executive Officers, Business Unit Managers, Chief Technology Officers, and Business Development and Licensing Executives from major R&D powerhouses around the world.

The breadth of knowledge and experience in evidence was truly remarkable for a conference put on by a young Internet company, and all attendees benefited from the chance to learn from and share with their counterparts around the world. As Gordon Brunner, CTO of Procter & Gamble stated, "We´re learning a lot about using new Internet tools to maximize the value of our assets. Other companies are learning a lot, too, but there have been few opportunities to get together and share experiences on a global scale. That´s why we´re really looking forward to this conference."