The 9th Annual Global Digital City Network General Assembly & Conference was successfully held in Westchester County, New York, USA from October 26-28, 2008.  Over 100 public & private sector participants received valuable updates on knowledge economy development in each of the GDCN member cities present and exchanged information related to the event’s security theme.  A business showcase event was held in conjunction with the General Session on October 27, attracting a diverse group of organizations interested in expanding their international markets and identifying new opportunities for partnership.     

2008 GDCN Presentations Included:

• "When the Town Walls Start Cracking" by Dr. Norman Jacknis, Director, Cisco IBSG Public Sector  
• "The Global Enterprise of the Future - A Two-Step Discussion" by Dr. David Cohn, Director of Business Informatics at IBM’s   T. J. Watson Research Center
• "Towards Creating the Intelligent Community – The Global ICF Experience" Keynote Presentation by John Jung, Chairman, Intelligent Community Forum & CEO of Canada’s Technology Triangle
• Westchester County, USA Update: “What Makes An Intelligent Community?” Video & Presentation by Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano 
• Shenyang, China Update: “Briefing of Information Security Assurance of Shenyang, China” Presentation by Mr. Chen Xiaoping, Vice Secretary General of Shenyang Municipal Government
• Dundee, Scotland Update by Stan Ure, Business Development Manager, Dundee City Economic Development   
• Kakamigahara, Japan Update: "Kakamigahara’s Security Network & Industrial Vision" Presentation by Mr. Yasuhiro Sakai 
• Gold Coast City, Australia Update by Grayson Perry, Manager of Economic Development, Gold Coast City Council 
• Chuncheon City, Korea Update: "IT Security Solutions & Services in Korea Now & Beyond" Presentation by Mr. Kim Gi-Taek, Professor, Kangwon National University
• "Delivering Value in a Global Network" Presentation by Thomas Moebus and Rafail Portnoy, The Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce
• "Beyond Basic Backup for Data Protection" by Bennett Klein, Sr. Principal Product Marketing Manager, Recovery Management BU, CA
• Virtual Trade Mission (VTM) Demo & Pilot Results Presented by Peter Watts, CEO, Group Intelligence 
• “Virtual Reality Techno Center” by Mori Tatsuya, Chief Officer, Gifu Prefecture, Japan
• “Trends and Challenges in Virtualization & Cloud Computing” by Dr. Chienting Lin, Seidenberg School of CSIS, Pace University