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IRGSP is Winner in the 2003 World Technology AwardsLondon, San Francisco (June 25, 2003) - The World Technology Network (WTN) announced today that the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), has been selected as the Winner of the 2003 World Technology Award for Biotechnology (corporate division). The Awards were presented by the WTN in association with Nasdaq, Accenture, Microsoft, Genencor International, Dupont Textiles and Interiors, TIME magazine, Technology Review magazine, Science magazine, and Business 2.0 magazine. Selection as a winner also means that IRGSP has been elected as a Corporate Member of the World Technology Network. The new Corporate Members were announced on June 25, 2003 in San Francisco, at the World Technology Awards gala ceremony in the conclusion of the World Technology Summit. The World Technology Awards honour individuals and corporations from twenty technology- related sectors selected by their peers as being the innovators doing work of the greatest likely long-term significance. Award categories range from biotechnology, space and energy to ethics, design and entertainment. "We are delighted to have been selected by our peers as the Winner of the 2003 World Technology Award for Biotechnology,"said Dr. Takuji Sasaki of the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan, who heads the IRGSP. He also added that "this award shows how the people driving the most significant innovations in emerging technologies recognize the impact of our rice genome sequencing efforts. " The IRGSP is a collaboration of 10 countries or regions with the common goal of sequencing the entire rice genome. In December 2002, this consortium announced the completion of a high-quality draft sequence of the genome. The rice genome sequence data, now freely available on the internet, is expected to induce innovative researches for this cereal crop which serves as the staple food for more than half of the world's population. Nominees for the 2003 World Technology Awards were identified through an intensive, global process in which current WTN members (primarily winners and finalists of previous Awards cycles) made their nominations and then voted their preferences based on who they think are most innovative and impactful within their particular field. James P. Clark, founder and Chairman of the World Technology Network, added:"The World Technology Awards program was created to recognize truly extraordinary innovation on a global scale, the sort of work that could be described as creating our collective future and changing our world. IRGSP's contribution in the field of biotechnology has been outstanding, and their selection as a new WTN Corporate Member is public acknowledgement of that fact."
A small selection of those WTN members nominating this year, in various categories, include: The World Technology Network is a London-headquartered organization that was created to "encourage serendipity" - happy accidents - amongst those individuals and companies deemed by their peers to be the most innovative in the technology world. WTN's areas of interest range from IT and communications to biotech, energy, materials, and space, as well as related fields such as finance, marketing, policy, law, design, and ethics. Each year, WTN members are brought together through an ongoing global series of Roundtable Dinners, Chapter Meetings and other events. WTN also publishes "World Technology Intelligence", a bi-monthly magazine about what is imminent, possible, and important in the technology world, written largely by its own members. Central events in the WTN calendar include the annual World Technology Summit and World Technology Awards - the culmination of a global judging program through which new members are nominated and selected and by which the network grows and is refreshed. For more information on the World Technology Network, World Technology Awards and World Technology Summit, please visit their website, www.wtn.net. |