Collaboration—the most powerful weapon in
international trade.

Once seen as a sign of weakness, collaboration is now critical for creating market leadership. But collaboration without the right strategy and structure is worthless. The right partners, at the right time, with the right infrastructure are essential to ensuring that collaborative efforts are fruitful. Traditionally, the ICT industry has embraced standardization as the most effective collaborative tool. However, weakened by protectionism, patent favoritism, and a move away from openness, the present standardization system no longer serves to increase global wealth and benefit society. Governments must work together to revise the standardization system so that it provides the flexible, open infrastructure necessary for collaboration. Only then can businesses and society thrive.

A key element in international collaborative efforts is the management of intellectual property rights. The Chinese government, along with other policy makers worldwide, recognizes the importance of this issue. In May 2005, China submitted a proposal to the World Trade Organization to encourage discussions on resolving IPR challenges. Through this “Standards Edge” conference, the Chinese government will help to further facilitate discussions among world leaders that address IPR challenges in the Information and Communications Technology field using standardization as a management and resolution tool.
Collaborative advantage occurs when greater results are achieved through working together than could be attained through individual efforts. It is essential to today’s interconnected society and global market. This conference brings together policy, industry, and academic decision-makers from around the world.  It presents a rare opportunity for  conference participants to meet these decision makers in one setting to hear their views and to help structure policy and international standardization..

Please join specially selected speakers in an interactive conference to discuss:

• Developing national policies that impact openness
• Managing IPR through standardization
• Agreeing on IPR solutions for international trade
• The role of the WTO in international standardization management
• Creating collaborative advantage among nations
• Leveraging collaborative advantage on a business, industry, and national level
• Identifying the realities and myths of the current standardization infrastructure
• Restructuring international standardization to guarantee openness
• Stimulating economic strength and social benefit through standardization

Why You Should Attend this Conference

1. Gain insight from leading policy makers worldwide on the changing dynamics of world trade and the role of WTO
2. Discover how issues such as competitiveness, openness, intellectual property rights, and procurement policies affect the world's economic climate
3. Impact the thoughts and actions of those driving the technical, social, and legal decisions around policy and standardization
4. Strengthen your ability to strategically create collaborative opportunities
5. Take advantage of a unique opportunity to form beneficial partnerships with industry, customers, and policy makers