Fifth International World Wide Web Conference

May 6-10, 1996, Paris, France

"Business on the Web" Plenary Sessions

Thursday 9 May

OPENING SESSION (9:00-11:00)

Opening of "Business on the Web"

European Commission Address: Director General Von Moltke DGXXIII-SMEs

"A Global Marketplace for SMEs" - Global Information Society Cooperation launched by the G7

Bernard Vergnes, President Microsoft Europe, Microsoft Corporation

Business Implications of the Internet

The talk will discuss the evolution of technologies which has enabled the Internet (particularly the WWW) to vault to its current importance, and give a view of the future direction of these technologies. The main body of the presentation will focus on current implications for businesses of the rapid advance of the Internet and associated technologies. A key theme will be the power of Intranets, which offer companies of all sizes significant benefits today primarily through greatly enhanced information publishing. The other theme will be Internet/WWW specific, more customer-focused opportunities for businesses in the area of electronic commerce.

Bio

As President of Microsoft Europe, Bernard Vergnes is responsible for Microsoft's business in its twenty subsidiaries. He joined Microsoft in 1983 as General Manager and founder of the French subsidiary. Mr. Vergnes was promoted to Vice-President, Europe, in 1990, and to his current position, President of Microsoft Europe and Senior Vice President, Microsoft Corporation, in 1992.

Mr. Vergnes has over twenty five years experience in the computer industry. Prior to Microsoft he worked for the American mini-computer manufacturer Modcomp, in management positions in Benelux, England and France.

Mr. Vergnes was graduated from the Ecole Supérieure d'Electricité in Paris with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1968. In 1971, he received his MSc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in the United States. He holds a Business Administration diploma from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium in 1976.

Business on the Web in Practice (17:00-18:00)

George Metakides
Directoral European Commission DGIII-Industry

Electronic Commerce: Doing Business in the Information Society

Friday 10 May

Award Session (14:00-15:00)

Business on the Web for SMEs Award Session

Presentation: Jean-Michel Blottière, Canal+

Michel Carpentier, Former Director-General at the European Commission

Closing of "Business on the Web" (15:00-16:00)

Christian Thommessen
General Manager Network - Centric Computing - IBM Europe Middle-East Africa

A View of the Future for doing Business on the Web

Bio

Christian Thommessen is vice president of network computing for IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa. In this role, Mr. Thommessen worked in the IBM network computing strategy task force last fall, and is now responsible for the deployment of this strategy in Europe.

Prior to accepting his new position, Mr. Thommessen was general manager of IBM Norway. There, he led the efforts to acquire Norsk Informasjonsteknologi A/S, Norway's fourth largest IT company, in competition with several other bidders. The interest in NIT evolved as a result of a portfolio management strategy project led by Mr. Thommessen in 1994, which defined networking services, facilities management and IT services and solutions - through business process reengineering, strategic alliances and acquisitions - as growth and focus areas for IBM.

Before joining IBM in 1993, Mr. Thommessen held various management positions in Norsk Hydro A.S., the Norwegian petroleum and industrial company. His latest assignment there was general manager of Hydro Notodden, the group of industrial plants upon which the company was founded. Mr. Thommessen also held the position of general manager and CEO of Media Vision A.S., a media investment company.

He began his career in 1982 as a consultant and, later, an engagement manager, at McKinsey and Co., Inc., where he worked on strategic and organizational issues for corporate customers in the Nordic region.

Walter De Backer
Advisor to the Directoral-General European Commission - DGXIII Telecommunications, Information Market and Exploitation of Research

Conclusion and closing

Mail to the Organizers