Today’s networked world holds great promise for strengthening economies, increasing productivity and supporting global development. It also presents new legal and ethical challenges that call for bold and imaginative solutions. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) – an international organization of leading software and e-commerce developers – has become a nexus for creative ideas for charting this new communications frontier.

Group Inc produced the first Global Tech Summit for BSA in December 2001 . Held in Washington, DC, the event was an unprecedented gathering of leaders and innovators from the world’s fastest growing industry.

Our challenge was to create a venue in which BSA executives could discuss complex topics ranging from software policy to trade opportunities while reaching out effectively to a broad and diverse audience – including the media, policy and opinion makers, current and potential member organizations, and the general public. The solution was to create a visually enabled set that manifested the central themes of the Global Tech Summit and projected the strength and innovation of BSA’s member companies. By weaving together state-of-the-art presentation elements and new audience participation technology, we produced dialogue sessions and accompanying video content that explored in depth issues of importance to BSA members.

For the next Global Tech Summit in 2003 , BSA wanted a more intimate setting with greater audience participation and interaction. Group Inc moved the event to Atlantic Studios, a full-function facility in Washington, DC. With Lou Dobbs moderating, panel discussions covered a range of perspectives on how best to advance the networked economy. Participants from all over the world included high-tech CEOs, academicians, policymakers and journalists. The event took place against a backdrop of heightened cyber security concerns in the wake of 9/11 and featured Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge as the keynote speaker.

Using video content from the 2001 Summit, Group Inc created an interactive DVD presentation to support BSA’s member recruitment and marketing efforts. Following the 2003 Summit, we produced four original videos with panel discussion highlights.