Innovation Garden Comes to Princeton
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Overseas Security For Business Travelers
The Overseas Security Council, a partnership of private
industry and the U.S. Department of State, collects and shares
information
on security issues all around the world. Membership is free for U.S.
companies, and the council is encouraging business — and
especially
small businesses — to join.
On Thursday, January 10, at noon, Jeffrey Stottlemeyer and
Russell
Ross of the council speak on “Security for the International
Travel in the Age of Terrorism” at a meeting of the International
Trade Network at the Nassau Club. Cost $30. Call 609-921-3322.
Rich Miller, principal in Miller & Mitchell, a law firm with
offices on State Road, is organizing the meeting. Of international
travel, Miller says simply, “I’m scared.”
He is not alone. Stottlemeyer, deputy executive director of OSAC,
says its website (www.ds-osac.org) normally receives 25,000 to 50,000
hits a week, but in the weeks after September 11 that number soared
to 1 million. Interest in security is way up, and OSAC exists to
provide
information on a broad range of security issues.
Stottlemeyer explains that information comes both from the government
and from the private sector. OSAC has established Country Councils
in embassies around the world. They collect tips on everything from
hotels where pickpockets operate with impunity to local security
agencies
with lax employees. “A lot of the information is subjective,”
says Stottlemeyer. OSAC makes all of it available, and lets companies
form their own judgments.
In addition to its Country Councils, OSAC employs five analysts in
Washington, D.C., who monitor and analyze economic and political
conditions
throughout the world. Their findings are made available to all OSAC
members.
Among the information gathered are “Dates to Watch,” which
are listed on OSAC’s website. Inclusion on this list doesn’t mean
that a particular locale should be shunned by business travelers,
merely that they should be aware of the event, and should assess its
possible impact. Upcoming dates include:
January 12. Parliamentary elections in Australia.January 20. The latest Colombian government extensionof FARC immunity in the liberated zone granted to the leftistrevolutionariesby President Andres Pastrana expires. If a ceasefire is notforthcomingby this date, the Colombian peace process may collapse.January 3.1 The World Economic Forum Summit opens at theWaldorf-Astoria in New York.February 23. Eid-ul Adha, Muslim Festival of Sacrifice.February 26. The Asian Aerospace exhibit and conferenceopens. The event will last until March 3.Top Of PageInnovation Garden Comes to PrincetonInnovation Garden State, a public/private initiative,was formed to promote New Jersey’s high-tech attributes throughtelevision,print, and Internet campaigns. Now it has added another dimensionto its campaign, with its first ever public event, the InnovatorsConference on Friday, January 11, at 9 a.m. at McDonnell Hall on thePrinceton University campus.Speakers include incoming Governor James E. McGreevey, JohnMarburger III, science advisor to President Bush; Ira Flatow,host of NPR’s Science Friday; Congressman Rush Holt; andShirleyTilghman, president of Princeton University and herself a researchscientist in biogenetics. Cost: $60. Call 609-984-4924.Steve Sasala, president and CEO of Prosperity New Jersey, theparent organization of Innovation Garden State(www.innovationgarden.org),says that to attract knowledge-based businesses, the state must alsohave an educated, technically savvy workforce. Directly going aftercompanies is a goal, but he says that a more realistic approach tobuilding up the state’s roster of high-tech companies is to make thestate attractive to knowledge workers. Get a good base ofhighly-skilledworkers, he says, and companies will follow.The organization’s publicity campaign to date has been aimed at thoseworkers throughout the country and around the world. The InnovatorsConference is a first step toward nurturing home-grown talent. Inaddition to the speakers, there will be activities for children.”We want to get kids’ attention,” says Sasala. “We wantto create home-grown knowledge workers.” Liberty Science Centerand the New Jersey Network will be on hand with interactiveattractionsto show the youngsters that science can be fun.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
