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Hi-tech companies make deals at Softworld ‘98 By Danielle Cossar I.J. Samson Junior High St. John's, Newfoundland

Tobin Speaks at the Softworld 98 Confrence

Newfoundland and Labrador has been making its presence known in the Information Technology sector for many years and it reaffirmed its influence by playing host to the world at Softworld '98. Softworld '98 is an international I.T. conference co-hosted with Aberdeen, Scotland. People in Newfoundland's technology sector hopes the event will draw attention to the vast opportunities which have become available in the province.

Some of those attending include Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin, a large Scottish contingent, and over 900 delegates, sixty per cent of whom are from foreign countries. In his keynote address, Premier Tobin said the world economy have been going through many changes and that has created new challenges for the business community.  Tobin said some of Newfoundland's more traditional, resource-based industries are struggling these days, especially the fishery. But he said the province's I.T. sector is playing a major role in the province's economy.      The exhibition showcased advances worldwide in Information Technology, and featured displays from each of the Atlantic provinces. Registration kits distributed to the delegates included hi-tech items like a CD-Rom from the province of Newfoundland and a leather computer disk case from Prince Edward Island. In accordance with its technological theme, the conference's main events are being broadcast live, via the Internet, all around the world. Softworld '98 ran for three and a half days, from September 20-24. According to Softworld's director, this is the longest one yet, all the rest having run for two and a half days. The opinions of those attending the conference are very positive. It appears that so far, Softworld '98 has been extremely successful in its goal -- to attract world-wide attention to Newfoundland and Labrador's ever growing I.T. sector. Several delegates from Japan said they were very impressed with the progress that Newfoundland has made in research and technology in the past few years and found the people very friendly and easy to work with. A delegate from Toronto felt that the conference was not only a great showcase for Newfoundland, but also provided an excellent environment for foreign companies to do business. A businessman from Austria was pleased with the opportunities presented here and was eager to do business here again. Business people from places such as England, India, France, and the United States all had positive things to say about Newfoundland's potential. The Softworld website is located at www.softworld98.com.

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