Gates Touts Digital Nervous System Vision

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

May 29, 1998 (12:00 AM EDT)

By Lisa Picarille,

SEATTLE -- Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said Thursday that corporations can leverage technology to create a digital infrastructure that lets them respond quicker to market demands.

Gates, speaking from Microsoft's (company profile) second annual CEO Summit here in Seattle, kicked off the close to the media proceedings with his vision of the "digital nervous system."

In the only media event of the two-day conference, Gates recapped the morning's events and explained how he underscored his keynote by demonstrating to attendees how Microsoft leverages its own technology infrastructure. Gates said he showed attendees how Microsoft handles order entry, marketing, customer service, and technical support.

Gates also said Massachusetts Institute of Technology media lab director Nicholas Negroponte gave a "visionary" and "optimistic" talk earlier in the day.

The CEO Summit is designed to bring 120 CEOs from Fortune 1000 companies together to discuss the importance of technology and business. A Microsoft spokesman said the conference is not a Microsoft marketing event, but rather a way for the Redmond, Wash., software developer to get closer to how corporations are doing business and implementing technology.

Gates rebuffed the notion that attendees were curious about the government's recent antitrust actions against Microsoft, and instead said the CEOs were very focused on Internet commerce and collaboration, and how to shift to make use of these technologies.

"The antitrust lawsuit has not come up," Gates said. "We are talking about the Internet. This is what we work on every day."

Eckhard Pfeiffer, CEO of Houston-based Compaq, who also hosted a panel discussion group Thursday morning, said he has not heard any talk about antitrust at the conference, but did say there was an overwhelming interest in e-commerce and the Internet among attendees.

Pfeiffer said the Internet is "moving fast," and "One of the conclusions I've reached is the Internet will move much faster than all the current predictions." He added, "Electronic commerce is the major driver."

-- Stuart Glascock contributed to this story.