Open source software (OSS) is widely used as operating systems (Linux), web tools (Apache, JBoss), database platforms (MySQL) and a range of applications. Creating OSS is widely believed to be a relatively easy process compared with proprietary software. Its growing use and support from large firms such as IBM and HP have led many to believe that OSS will ultimately replace proprietary software. While this is hotly debated, there is little doubt that as its use increases, it will impact how software services will be delivered. In particular, low cost global delivery centers might benefit from ready access to OSS code. The panel will discuss these and other issues related to the globalization of software services caused by OSS.

Panelists:

Mike Balma is HP's Linux Business Strategist. Mike has helped drive HP's strategy for Linux and Open Source software across HP since 1999. Mike is a member of HP's Open Source Review Board that reviews HP open source projects. He was involved in the Linux port to Itanium. He also helped create an exchange for open source software development. And he helps drive HP's Linux strategy in the public sector including the security related technologies and certifications.

Mitchell Kertzman is a partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. He has over 30 years of experience as a CEO of public and private software companies. Most recently, Mitchell was chairman and CEO of Liberate Technologies, a provider of platform software for the delivery of digital services by cable television companies.

Rajesh Setty chairman of CIGNEX Technologies, Inc., a company that he co-founded in late 2000. Setty has managed technology projects and practices over the last 14 years in several parts of the world (India, Singapore, Malayisa, Hong Kong, France and the United States.)

In Thailand in 1997 reformers drafted a new constitution. They hoped to trigger dramatic improvements in the country's political system. Analysts, activists, and politicians alike blamed many of Thailand's problems on shortcomings of a party system seen as dangerously weak and fragmented. Accordingly, the new charter was designed to strengthen political parties while reducing their number. These constitutional changes profoundly affected Thai politics, but not always in the ways or for the reasons that reformers had in mind. Have the changes improved or worsened the quality of democracy in Thailand? In addressing this question, Professor Hicken will highlight the unintended consequences of constitutional reform and the nature of governance under Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai Party.

Allen Hicken studies political institutions and policy making in developing countries, especially in Southeast Asia. Countries he has worked in include Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Cambodia. Writing-in-progress includes a book manuscript, "Building Party Systems: Elections, Parties, and Coordination in Developing Democracies." He has published in the American Journal of Political Science and Electorial Studies, among other places. At Michigan he is affiliated with the university's Center for Southeast Asian Studies and Center for Political Studies. He earned his Ph.D in political science and Pacific studies from the University of California - San Diego.

From August 2003 to May 2004, the Korean Supreme Prosecutors' Office, under the leadership of Ahn Dai-Hee, then-chief of its Central Investigation Department, conducted a major investigation of the use of illegal funds in the 2002 presidential election.

This criminal investigation, Korea's largest, targeted illegal activities of leaders of the major political parties and major Korean conglomerates, which had funneled illegal funds to the political parties.

The independent and strictly evidence-based investigation resulted in the arrests and indictments of numerous political and business leaders, and revealed serious corruption in Korean politics and business (also referred to as "government-business collusion").

Mr Ahn's talk will include personal reflections on the investigation and discussion of its impact on political reforms in Korea, including how the investigation helped to significantly reduce corruption in Korea.

Ahn Dai- Hee is Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' office. He began his legal career as Army Judge Advocate after passing the national bar examination in 1975 and while still a student at Seoul National University. A prosecutor throughout his career, Mr Ahn's straightforward leadership of the Korean Supreme Prosecutors' Office's investigation into illegal funds in the 2002 presidential election earned him national recognition. Mr Ahn's publications include Criminal Tax Law published by Bobmunsa in 2003.

James S. Fishkin holds the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication at Stanford University where he is Professor of Communication and Professor of Political Science. He is also Director of Stanford's new Center for Deliberative Democracy.

Fishkin received his B.A. from Yale in 1970 and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale as well as a second Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cambridge.

He is the author of a number of books including Democracy and Deliberation: New Directions for Democratic Reform (1991), The Dialogue of Justice (1992 ), The Voice of the People: Public Opinion and Democracy (1995). With Bruce Ackerman he is co-author most recently of Deliberation Day (Yale Press, 2004). He is best known for developing Deliberative Polling-a practice of public consultation that employs random samples of the citizenry to explore how opinions would change if they were more informed. Professor Fishkin and his collaborators have conducted Deliberative Polls in the US, Britain, Australia, Denmark, Bulgaria, China and other countries.

Fishkin has been a Visiting Fellow Commoner at Trinity College, Cambridge as well as a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and a Guggenheim Fellow.

China's integrated circuit market is the fastest growing in the world, increasing from 7 percent of the world in 2000 to 20 percent in 2004. China's State Council has set the ambitious goal of having domestic production satisfy most of this demand, while closing the technology gap with developed countries.

Mr. Yu, President of the China Semiconductor Industry Association and former chief engineer of the Ministry of Electronics, is uniquely positioned to review the past decade's transition of the Chinese semiconductor industry from state controlled enterprises to growing companies responding to market forces. Mr. Yu will also provide his insights on the future of China's high tech development and its ramifications for trade relations with the U.S.

Mr. Yu Zhongyu has been engaged in semiconductor research and management for many years and is one of the leaders of China's integrated circuit (IC) industry. He has engaged in research and design of IC products and was honored with the National Science and Technology Award. Having joined the government in 1988, he was responsible for organizing and leading the IC project during "7th five-year plan" and "8th five-year plan"; he acted as a member of the leading group for the National "908" project and headed the construction leading group of the Huahong factory in the "909" project. These projects made important contributions to China's IC industry development. Mr. Yu has been the President of the China Semiconductor Industry Association since 2001.

Lt. Gen. Bruce A. Wright is Commander, U.S. Forces Japan, and Commander, 5th Air Force, Yokota Air Base, Japan. In these two command positions he is the senior U.S. military representative in Japan and commander of U.S. Air Force units in Japan respectively.

The general received his commission upon graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1973 and served as an instructor pilot early in his career. He has held command at all levels -- fighter squadron, group, wing and major command. Prior to assuming his current position, he was Vice Commander, Air Combat Command, with headquarters at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and Air Component Commander for U.S. Joint Forces Command and U.S. Northern Command. A command pilot, General Wright has more than 3,200 flying hours, principally in fighter aircraft, including 65 F-16 combat missions flown during operations Desert Storm, Provide Comfort and Deny Flight.

The US-India corridor for services outsourcing, now over three decades old, has moved from providing software programming to a wide range of lines of work, encompassing business processes, call-centers and analytical work, and going beyond its original focus on the banking industry to cover other financial services, healthcare and personnel management. The talk will address the benefits and risks associated with outsourcing,  the value proposition from a vendors' perspective and trends in the outsourcing services industry. The talk will take an analytical view of the drivers of outsourcing, going beyond the usual arguments based on cost arbitrage to show how firms like TCS have built defensible businesses based on process maturity, domain expertise, scale and scope. 

Surya Kant (known as Sury) is  President, Tata Consultancy Services  North America. Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) is India's largest global IT consulting and services company, employing over 50,000 persons in 34 countries. His 27 year career with TCS includes setting up TCS Japan in 1987. He has also been country manager, TCS UK.  His focus areas include software quality assurance and delivery center management.

Sury received his Masters in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi (1978) and his Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (1976). He is a member of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), USA. He was nominated to the Tata Group Top Strategic Leadership Programme in 2004.

Tea and samosas will be served.