The Hague, The Netherlands, Feb. 4, 1999 — Today Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, met with a number of business, political and education leaders during a one-day visit to the Netherlands. Gates was scheduled for a broad range of meetings, including a roundtable with local business leaders, speeches at industry and education events, and local press interviews.
Gates also had an opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Kok and the ministers of Finance, Education and Economy to discuss how information technology (IT) developments will affect future government functions. They discussed how the information society will develop in the 21st century, how technology will affect government’s ability to interact with citizens and how IT can be used to improve governmental efficiency and productivity. The group shares a common vision that IT is invaluable in the education process and can improve traditional learning methods.
Another highlight of the day was Gates’ keynote address to an audience of more than 2,000 IT decision makers, partners and customers at the Microsoft@Work exhibition. Gates highlighted the opportunities of the new digital age and talked in depth about the concept of a digital nervous system. He discussed the idea of information flow in an organization, a key concept in making businesses competitive today. He also noted that the Internet is changing competition, collaboration and many other aspects of business. The sooner companies adapt to these changes, Gates said, the better positioned they will be in the competitive marketplace.
Gates will continue his European trip for the remainder of this week to meet with leaders in business and government. Throughout his trip, PressPass will provide coverage of Gates’ activities. Check back daily for further news and updates.
