San Diego-Baja
Communications Council
International Center for Communications
San Diego-Baja California is beginning to nurture a new and
exciting vision of itself as a powerful, international information
region. Communications, both as an industry and as a bridge to
uniting these two separate communities, has never been more
compelling. As we enter an age when trade and commerce in the
Pacific Rim and Latin America will dominate both business and
imagination, this region represents a promising new force in the
emerging global information age.
It is an age when communications and information services of all
kinds will flow on information superhighways. When newspapers will
be printed in our homes, and when health care and education are
easily accessible by high-speed links to homes and hospitals,
businesses and community centers. When knowledge contained in the
great universities and laboratories of the world will be available
on our computer terminals and television sets. It is an exciting,
brave new age, full of challenges but even greater opportunities.
The economic future of the San Diego-Baja region will depend in
large part on our role in the new age.
It was out of the need to better understand trends in technology
and public policy that brought about the creation of the San
Diego Communications Council in 1987. Today--recognizing the
importance of Mexico in our region's future--the newly named
San Diego-Baja Communications Council plays a pivotal role in
advancing the interests of companies, organizations and individuals
in the communications industry, and the communities they serve.
Membership Meetings and Events
Keeping Pace with Industry Trends
The Council helps foster communication and cooperation between
companies, and their communities through a specially developed
program of regular meetings, tours and conferences. These meetings
bring together renown leaders, and public policy makers in the
international communications industry to discuss trends in
technology, public policy and industry-related developments,
with particular emphasis on telecommunications and community
development.
Council members enjoy
the unique opportunity to interact with
leaders such as former FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes, former Time Warner
International Chairman
Arthur Barron, former House Communications
Subcommittee Chairman Lionel Van Deerlin, CSPAN CEO Brian Lamb,
fomer New York Daily News Editor Michael O'Neill, Discovery
Channel founder and CEO John Hendricks,
and former Gannett Chairman Allen Neuharth, to
name just a few of the distinguished leaders from government
and industry who have visited San Diego under the auspices of
the Council.
The Council also provides members a first-hand look at the
state-of-the-art resources available in this fast-growing,
vibrant region by scheduling private tours and meetings at
leading edge communications facilities--places like the world
class broadcast center of Televisa in Tijuana, the San Diego
Super Computer Center, the highly advanced U.S. Navy control
research center at Point Loma, and leading high technology
companies such as General Instrument and Qualcomm.
Annual Conference
Focusing on the Future
As a highlight to each year's exciting program of special
meetings and events, the Communications Council sponsors an
annual conference featuring nationally prominent speakers
who highlight key communications issues of the day. Whether
the focus is global communication, interactive multimedia or
telecommunications public policy, the Communications Council
annual conference--open to the general public--promotes a
stronger relationship between industry and government, and
provides our region with a deeper understanding of the growing
importance of information technology and the vital linkages
between government, business and academe.
Emphasis on Education
Understanding and Appreciating Communications
The urgency with which the San Diego-Baja Communications
Council views its purpose goes beyond the immediate needs
of the communications industry. The Council recognizes the
need for all sectors of society to better understand the
significance and impact of more rapid and comprehensive
communications brought about by new technology. It is not
enough for example, for technology to be available. The
consuming public must know how to use such technology. For
that reason, the Communications Council supports research by
the International Center for Communications,
sponsors special education seminars, publishes articles and
commentaries of interest to its members, and produces radio
and television programs to inform the membership and the public
of trends in technology and public policy affecting them and
the region.
Building a Living Laboratory of Interactive Communications
Moving from Concept to Reality
The Council plays and continues to play a critical role
in nurturing a new vision for San Diego and the Baja region
as a "City-state" of the future, an idea and a
vision born out of Mayor
Susan Golding's City of the Future
Advisory Committee formed in 1993. Today, many of the council
members participate in City of the Future "task forces"
studying how to move that idea from concept to reality, and identify
test beds and projects--in health care, business, education,
government services, information and entertainment--to serve as a
model for the community.
The Governing Body
Leading the Way
Organization and individuals represented
in the Council include
newspaper, broadcast, telephone, cable television, computer hardware
and software companies, journalists, academicians, consultants and
others intimately involved in the vital task of building a powerful
economic region for the information age.
Contacting
the International Center for Communications
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