Global Technology Conference Set for Helsinki in June

HELSINKI, Finland, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- A one million euro prize -- the world's largest technology award -- will be presented as the centerpiece of the Millennium Technology Conference, a new international program to explore the role of technology in promoting quality of life. The event debuts June 13-16, 2004, in Helsinki.

The first keynote will be given by Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn-Smith, director of UKAEA Culham Division, which operates the world's largest fusion experiment, examines the significance of global cooperation for technological development. Other keynote presenters are Dr. David R. Cox, one of the world's top researchers of human genomes; Dr. K. Eric Drexler, a visionary analyst of the societal, medical and environmental implications of nanotechnology; Professor Peter Keen, a celebrated consultant on information technology as support for managerial judgement; and Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change.

Commentaries will be given by Dr. Rita R. Colwell, former director of the U.S. National Science Foundation; Sari Baldauf, president of Nokia Networks; Takashi Kiuchi, chairman of Future 500 organisation; and others.

The Finnish Technology Award Foundation, on June 15, will present the Millennium Technology Prize, an international acknowledgement of outstanding technological achievements aimed at promoting quality of life and sustainable economic and societal development.

The prize will be awarded biennially in one of four technological fields: energy and the environment; communication and information; new materials and processes; or healthcare and life sciences. The prize is for research conducted during the past 10 years that has resulted in a verifiable application. Seventy-eight innovators from four continents have been nominated for The Millennium Technology Prize 2004. The winner, selected by the International Award Selection Panel, will be announced on April 15 in Espoo, Finland.

Complete information about both the Millennium Technology Conference, "Future Society - Future Technology," and the Millennium Technology Award are available on the Web at www.technologyawards.org.

SOURCE Finnish Technology Award Foundation