ITAA Nominates Austin to Host World IT Congress

Austin, Texas, was named the U.S. candidate to host the World Congress on Information Technology in 2006, the Information Technology Association of America announced Nov. 28.

The biennial event is often described as the olympics of high-tech business gatherings, bringing world leaders from education, government and private industry together to identify and discuss the most important issues in IT.

The conference could bring $17 million in revenue to the city, according to the Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

Austin Mayor Gus Garcia said: "You cannot buy the kind of publicity and international attention an event like the World Congress can bring to Austin."

The last time the event was held in the United States in 1998, nearly 1,900 IT executives and government leaders from 90 countries attended.

Next, Austin's bid will be submitted to the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, a consortium of 41 international IT industry associations representing more than 97 percent of the world IT market.

Based in Fairfax, Va., WITSA will choose a host city from the Americas; other potential host countries might include Brazil and Mexico, according to ITAA. WITSA will announce its choice for the 2006 host city in late February in Adelaide, Australia, at the WCIT 2002 conference.

"Although the team developed its bid in a relatively short period of time, of all the U.S. cities, Austin made the most compelling case," said Harris Miller, president of ITAA. "Most impressive to the selection committee were support letters from 17 local and state government leaders, as well as letters from prominent universities and technology leaders like IBM Corp. and SBC Communications Inc."

Mayors from the Texas cities of Cedar Park, Dallas, Laredo, Pflugerville, Round Rock, San Antonio and San Marcos wrote letters supporting Austin's bid. Similarly, five other chambers of commerce, including Arlington, Corpus Christi, Greater Dallas, El Paso and Fort Worth expressed support.

"This win is a big feather in Austin's cap, and for Texas technology in general, in terms of high-tech reputation and potential economic impact," said Jonathan Osmundsen, spokesperson for Austin's bid steering group.

The Austin WCIT steering committee will work with ITAA to prepare a bid submission for consideration by WITSA. The committee's primary focus will be to further develop corporate sponsorships, a critical element to demonstrate the viability of the venue.