First Tuesday - South Africa, expanding ...

News & Press Releases New look for First Tuesday - South Africa7 February 2005 -->BY IAIN SCOTT, ITWEB FINANCE EDITOR
The First Tuesday forum is expanding its scope to generate intellectual property for the benefit of the entire industry. First Tuesday is an independent non-profit organisation that hosts discussion forums around various aspects of business and technology. First Tuesday is looking to expand beyond what it has been before by focusing on the content – the intellectual property – that comes out of First Tuesday,” says First Tuesday Executive Mike Wright. Wright says a strategy workshop will be held a few weeks ahead of each forum, with the first workshop, on voice over IP (VOIP), being held this month. The workshop involves a discussion of the issues, with the participation of vendors, industry associations, corporates, the media and government. However, the focus will be on industry's point of view rather than that of vendors. “That content will be delivered as a document available for download from the First Tuesday site,” Wright says. “At the forum, the aim is to build on that document so people already have an understanding of the issues before we begin.” First Tuesday will choose for the panel people it believes represent the industry best. With multiple streams at the forum, there will be only three or four people on each panel. The main focus will be on a panel discussion with the participation of the floor, followed by a networking session and finally a keynote address. VOIP forum The information generated at the forum will also be encapsulated in the document and be made available on the site. “We want to establish First Tuesday's intellectual property as the leading intellectual property on the issues discussed, and provide a complete reference guide,” Wright says. The VOIP forum is scheduled for 1 March, with the next event being Mobile Connect, focusing on the growth of mobile and data services. The preforum workshop will be held next month, with the event in April. The focus will not be only on educating the market about wireless application service providers (WASPS), but also on equipping and educating WASPS themselves. First Tuesday has also launched a new website to reflect its expanded focus. The new First Tuesday site will also be used as a tool for feedback and to generate input into the forums.