CONTENTS:	March 2005
• Call to Members	• Upcoming Industry Events
• News and Headlines from PTC Members	• PTC Members' Bulletin
• Membership Update

Dear PTC Members,

As we begin 2005, it is timely to offer a few well-deserved kudos. In recent years our PTC, like many of our members and their organizations, has had to navigate in some rather difficult waters. Yet, during this time, many have stepped forward to contribute their talents.

Our loyal members and sponsors deserve thanks for standing by PTC. At the very time when our capacity was trimmed by necessity, they renewed memberships and support, helping to ensure PTC would have the opportunity to rebound.

During this period, PTC was able to offer two exceptional Asian Mid-Years – 2003 in Tokyo, Japan and 2004 in Tianjin, China. Both events were hosted by PTC supporters who were themselves key Asian players and who were able to mobilize important representatives in their respective markets. They also assumed risks when PTC would most benefit. Participants had extraordinary opportunities to learn about these important economies and their contributions to the world’s ICT advances. Equally important, they had the chance to make or renew friendships in our hosts’ home territory. These were classic PTC venues from which future event organizers can learn, and I know I speak for all who were there when I express my sincere appreciation to those who made it possible.

Our new governance model showed its strength in this period as well. Board members committed many hours to the challenge of managing PTC and finding ways to deliver value with a much smaller team. My thanks to them all, but most especially to David Lassner for his leadership of the team that spearheaded PTC’05. It was critical that our annual conference succeeded, and David’s team delivered outstanding value that exhibited growth in sponsorships, participation and excitement.

Our Advisory Council (AC), under the leadership of Mark Lopianowski and supported by Gregg Daffner, engaged the talent of busy AC members to provide key recommendations – fulfilling the role anticipated for the AC and setting the standard for future Councils. Katsuhiro Onoda ensured that talented volunteers stepped forward to serve and that members participated in their franchise.

One of the most critical recommendations of our AC was that we move to staff our Executive Director (ED) position to make certain our future was placed in the hands of a highly qualified professional able to devote the time necessary to ensure success. This was a thorough and rigorous process that drew a large number of highly talented candidates. I would like to thank each candidate and every member of our Board of Governors (BG) who participated in the exhaustive and exhausting process.

Given the talent in the running, there was never any question we would have an extremely strong ED in the end. Stephen Tom brings to PTC his extensive international experience and a phenomenal reputation. Stephen has moved quickly to confirm the wisdom of this choice.

Finally, I want to express my grateful thanks to the entire staff of the PTC Secretariat, whose individual contributions enabled us to emerge successfully from difficult periods. Their commitment, under stressful circumstances, was once again beyond the call.

This is the year we have the opportunity to complete the renewal of PTC, including its values and purpose. Those noted above and all others who have contributed have prepared us for this opportunity and deserve our thanks.

Here’s to a great year!

Bruce Drake
President and Chair
Board of Governors

Dear PTC Members,

In Hawaii there is a popular local dish called Loco Moco. Loco Moco is a mountainous meal consisting of a heap of white rice topped with a hamburger patty and a sunny side-up egg, then smothered in gravy. This dish is popular for breakfast, lunch or dinner and is a candidate for the Cholesterol Hall of Fame.¹

I was reminded of this high cholesterol example as I was starting to write about changes we’re making in our Members’ Bulletin. The improvements that are being made are intended to make the Bulletin rich in useful content and satisfying to read. However, it will be healthier for you than a Loco Moco.

Our staff and I have been reviewing the format and content of the Members’ Bulletin and want to improve its value as a monthly communications tool for our members around the world.

The plan is to continue distributing the Bulletin electronically and to improve the graphics and content. In addition to articles written by members of the Board of Governors, individual PTC officers, contributing writers and staff, we would like to include*:

• Brief write-ups about new members
• Notices about products and services offered by our members
• Requests for telecom services and products from members and non-members
• Brief descriptions of academic research in progress
• Requests from organizations seeking telecom research
• Reports about member activities
• Articles pertaining to telecommunications
• Press releases about member organizations and executive moves
• Other items and features of interest and value to our members (see below)

Because we are delivering the Bulletin in electronic form, we will hold to a 500 word maximum, or summary, for articles featured in or linked from the Bulletin. Please provide a link to your article whenever possible. Each month, one submission will be featured in the body of the issue, at the discretion of the editors. We reserve the right to edit any piece for length, grammar and/or appropriateness of subject matter. Submissions must be received by the 15^th of each month for consideration in the following month’s issue.

To make the Bulletin truly valuable, we need your input and ideas. Please send your suggestions to Lorie Sugiki at lorie@ptc.org and Kim Hunter at kim@ptc.org.

Mahalo,

Stephen Tom
Executive Director

* Next month, we would like to pay particular attention to what our members are doing with regard to tsunami relief and recovery.

It appears that several, if not many, PTC member organizations are taking steps to contribute time, talents, and expertise to help people affected by the December tsunami recover from this disaster. If your organization is participating in this humanitarian relief and rebuilding effort we would like to share your story with other PTC members. Please send us the details in a brief article and we will consider it for possible publication in a future Members’ Bulletin. Note: Space limitations make it impossible to publish everything we receive. However, we will make an effort to provide wide coverage of our members’ activities.
_______________________
¹ Excerpted from http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/LocoMocoHistory.htm

News and Headlines from PTC Members

Samoa Raises Asia-Pacific Representation at WSIS

Seeking to draw more participation from Asia-Pacific members at the 2^nd phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), which takes place in Tunisia from 16-18 November 2005, Technology journalist for UIPRE and PTC Member Roxana Dunnette reports that Samoa has created a National ICT Policy and Strategic Plan that has become a priority of its government after representatives attended WSIS’s previous summit. She points out that this is an excellent example of local application of knowledge gained at WSIS.

Mrs. Fuatai Pucell, Secretary and ICT Advisor for the Samoa National ICT Committee, further informed Ms. Dunnette that they are drafting a list of major issues of small island states for the consideration of the next Preparatory Committee of WSIS. Topics include environmental vulnerability and remoteness of location, the cost of services, funding mechanisms, satellite technology, and the role of regional organizations (including PTC), among others.

WSIS is a two-phase summit created by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2001 to address the issues of Information Society, the Digital Revolution and the Digital Divide. The 2^nd phase of WSIS, themed “the Summit of Solution and Implementation of WSIS Action Plan”, is in the preparatory process. 1400 delegates participated at the 2nd Preparatory Meeting in Geneva this past 17-25 February 2005, representing 149 governments, 208 NGOs, 53 international organizations and 30 business entities.

For more information on WSIS, its preparatory process and summit, visit http://www.itu.int/wsis/index.html.

Membership Update
New Members since 1 February 2005

ICF Announces Date and location for its 2005 NYC Conference
The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) will hold its annual conference and awards luncheon, titled “Building the Broadband Economy”, on 13-14 June 2005, at the Brooklyn Campus of Polytechnic University. The 150-year-old institution located in the MetroTech Center – one of the most fully-wired facilities in New York – will play host to ICF’s program, which includes a reception in Manhattan on the evening of 13 June to honor the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2005 (sponsored by the Canadian Consulate in New York and open to all attendees of the conference). PTC members are eligible for a discount on conference registration and should contact Louis Zacharilla at Lzacharilla@intelligentcommunity.org or phone +1.212.825.0218 ext. 12 for more information. Further event updates available at www.intelligentcommunity.org.

PTC’s online and email bulletin to members is now distributed once a month. You should receive your next copy on, or soon after, 8 April 2005. Please send your questions or suggestions to Kim Hunter at kim@ptc.org.

If you or your company representatives wish to resume informing other PTC members of new or improved products and services, or of individual achievements via the Members’ Bulletin, please express your wishes to Lorie Sugiki by emailing lorie@ptc.org. Please note that for news and headlines, we will only publish items that include a link to the cited article.

If you do not wish to receive the email version of the PTC Members’ Bulletin, please forward the email to info@ptc.org with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.