EDS Chairman Challenges IT Industry to Protect Nation's Digital Assets

📅 November 14, 2001 - EDS chairman and CEO Dick Brown yesterday told the IT industry it must take the lead in restoring the nation's trust in its institutions by protecting the assets driving today's digital economy forward.

"Trust was the main casualty of the events of the last two months. That'swhere we all come in," Brown said. "We are the protectors of today'scurrency: knowledge and information. We bolster trust by protecting thoseassets."
Brown delivered his remarks during a keynote speech at COMDEX Fall 2001inLas Vegas. At last year's show Brown delivered a highly acclaimed keynote inthe first such appearance by the leader of an information technologyservices company.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Brown told the audiencebusiness continuity planning has "a new urgency" and that leaders in the ITservices industry "must expand their thinking" to make it a core componentof what they offer their clients. "It's time such planning becomes afundamental practice for both government and business," Brown said. "Thiswill be the new business as usual."
To succeed in today's digital economy and help renew the nation's trust,Brown said, companies must search beyond technology for solutions."Technology is not a panacea," he said. "Technology alone cannot - will not- sustain competitive advantage in today's services-driven economy."
Rather, he said, the key to success is that companies must focus on people."How did we get to this point, where technology took center stage overpeople?" Brown asked. "We have to put people and our issues at the center ofour work. Only after we've identified the issues do we apply technology."
Brown's address was the centerpiece of EDS' COMDEX presence this year.Entitled "A Question is Worth a Thousand Answers," the keynote included aspecial appearance by celebrated science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke,author of 2001: A Space Odyssey.