ACM ANNOUNCES CONFERENCE ON COMPUTING IN THE YEAR 2047 ACM97: THE NEXT 50 YEARS OF COMPUTING SAN JOSE CONVENTION CENTER MARCH 1-5 1997.

Computing Machinery (ACM) announced today it is organizing a worldwide conference in 1997 to set the direction for technological innovations for the next 50 years and discuss information technology's impact on society.

Chaired by computer networking pioneer and Information Superhighway journalist Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe, ACM97: The Next 50 Years of Computing will be open to the public at the San Jose, California Convention Center, March 1-5, 1997. Dr. Metcalfe's goals are to create a conference, exhibits, a commemorative book, and an Internet web site all about the next 50 years of computing.

"ACM97 aims to do more than brainstorm about the future," said ACM Conference Chair, Bob Metcalfe. "If we do a good job, we can change the future."

Featured at ACM97 is Dr. Vinton G. Cerf, father of the Internet, who will speak about the next 50 years of the Internet. Computing pioneer Gordon Bell has agreed to give a humorous but insightful talk which will extrapolate current computing trends out 50 years. A total of 16 sessions, three luncheon speakers, two dinner speakers, and a wrap-up at ACM97 are planned.

In commenting on the news, Dan Lynch, chairman of CyberCash, chairman and founder of Interop(a), and co-chair of ACM's 50th Anniversary Committee said "Bob Metcalfe's vision will fill a huge void in the computer industry's conference offerings by providing a forum for business, government and technology leaders to participate in sessions which will predict the direction of information technology for the next 50 years."

ACM is seeking support for ACM97 from major information technology companies, and now has a commitment from the first of five $250,000 underwriters, Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, Calif. There is considerable interest among the prominent information technology companies to participate and additional underwriters will be announced shortly.

"We are taking the ACM's 50th anniversary as an occasion to reflect both on the past and the next 50 years of computing," said Bertram Herzog , Co-Chair of ACM's 50th Anniversary Committee. "The public and industry will join us on a 100 year journey from the origins of computing 50 years ago, to its unbounded future over the next 50 years."

ACM97 in San Jose, the culmination of ACM's yearlong 50th Anniversary program, will invite the world to reflect upon the next 50 years of information technology. ACM97 will include a two-and-a-half day conference of plenary presentations for an audience of 2,400, as well as futuristic "concept car" computing exhibits that will accommodate more than 15,000 members of the public for four days, a related book about the next 50 years to be distributed at the conference and thereafter worldwide, and a continuing Internet web site that will serve as a forum on the long-term future of computing for the next 50 years.

The ACM's 50th Anniversary Honorary Committee 's luminaries include: Gene Amdahl, Amdahl Corporation; Bill Gates, Microsoft Corporation; Adele Goldberg, ParcPlace Systems; Steve Jobs,Pixar; Herb Simon, Nobel Prize Laureate; Ken Thompson, AT&T Bell Labs; and is Co-Chaired by Fran Allen, IBM Research, and Bill Joy, Sun Microsystems Inc.

Founded in 1947 by computing pioneers, the Association for Computing Machinery is the world's first society in computing and, with more than 85,000 members, it is the world's largest. ACM serves both professional and public interests by fostering the open interchange of information and by promoting the highest professional and ethical standards. This is accomplished through its many publications, conferences, special interest groups, chapters and network communications. For additional information about ACM see http://www.acm.org on the World Wide Web. -0-

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