Prof. Radermacher will give the<br> Keynote address at Productronica

Exhibitors at Productronica 2007 will be given the opportunity to learn about one ex-pert's view on the future of technology, economy and society at the traditional "get-together" on the evening before Productronica opens. Prof. Franz Josef Radermacher, head of the Research Institute for Application-Oriented Knowledge Processing (FAW/n) and Professor for Informatics at Ulm University will present this year's keynote address: "Globalization, Information Society, Sustainable Development - What are the Challenges ahead?" Prof. Radermacher is in great demand for his views on topics such as globalization, innovation, the effects of technology and sustainable development. He has PhDs in mathematics and economics and is one of the guiding intellectual forces of the "Global Marshall Plan Initiative". Its goal is to create a binding global framework for an ecologically and socially compatible global economy to harmonize the interests of business with the environment, society and culture. Prof . Radermacher will analyze current developments such as population growth, social tensions in the "global" society, cultural conflicts and the aggravation of the worldwide ecological situation as well as illustrate the special role of electronics, computers and networks as the nervous system of the super organism "humanity". He will also provide a few future scenarios: the collapse of the biosphere, the "Brazilianization" of society and finally the balance. He will describe a possible solution in the form of first steps in the direction of implementing an eco-social global economy with the "Global Marshall Plan". Prof. Radermacher was awarded the "Planetary Consciousness Prize" in 2004 for exemplary life with consciousness of global responsibility. Former prizewinners include prominent people such as Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan and Mikhail Gorbachov. He also received the "Salzburg State Prize for Futurology" in 2005. In June of this year, Prof. Radermacher was awarded the "Vision Award" as one of "fifteen visionaries for a better world", which Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner 2006, also received at the same time.