Sun Hosts Annual Worldwide Education And Research Conference

Continuing its long history of partnering with the education community to promote the use of technology and innovation in education, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (www.sun.com) today opened its annual Worldwide Education and Research Conference (WWERC) taking place in San Francisco from February 14-17. During the conference, Sun executives, top educators, technologists and visionaries will discuss their roles in shaping the future of education.

"Today, learning is no longer bound to a fixed location such as a classroom," said Kim Jones. "Thanks to innovative technologies, the educational landscape is transforming into a digital campus - an information-rich and seamlessly-connected environment that can bring the world to a student's fingertips."

Kim Jones, vice president of Global Education and Research for Sun Microsystems, will open the event by discussing Sun's vision of the evolving global learning environment, and how technology innovation is making the Digital Campus a reality.

The Digital Campus breaks down institutions' ivy-covered walls to create a unified, seamless, secure, collaborative environment for learning, achievement and administration that is available to all individuals. The Digital Campus is an entirely new way of looking at education, one that benefits students, teachers and administrators.

Attendees will hear from the following Sun executives:

• Scott McNealy, Chairman & CEO
• Greg Papadopoulos, EVP & Chief Technology Officer
• John Loiacono, EVP, Software
• Andy Bechtolsheim, Chief Architect and Sr. VP, Network Systems Group
• David Yen, EVP, Scalable Systems Group
• Glenn Edens, Sr. VP and Director, Sun Labs
• Kim Jones, VP of Global Education and Research for Sun Microsystems

Support for this year's WWERC comes from industry leaders including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Her Majesty, Queen Noor of Jordan, who will address how technology is being used in education and its impact on facilitating collaboration between worldwide education and research communities.

"The city of San Francisco welcomes Her Majesty, Queen Noor of Jordan and education leaders and visionaries from around the world to support the role of technology in education," said Mayor Newsom. "I applaud Sun's continued commitment to education through innovative and affordable technology solutions that enable today's students to become tomorrow's leaders."

During the event, Mayor Newsom will announce an alliance between the city of San Francisco and Sun that will offer free access to Sun's StarOffice productivity suite software to all students and teachers throughout the city.

Just weeks after Sun announced its vision for a new era in network computing and unveiled major elements of its new Sun Grid utility offering, Sun is announcing its intent to award spare cycles to deserving research efforts.