COVITS 2007 Agenda Features Former Governor Mark Warner, Executives From CEB, Sycamore Networks, and Google

RICHMOND, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 14, 2007 -- Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh P. Chopra today announced the addition of key speakers to the COVITS 2007 agenda: former Governor Mark R. Warner, Jay McGonigle, Chairman of Corporate Executive Board Co., Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande, Chairman and Founder of Sycamore Networks Inc. and donor of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT, and Michael Bradshaw, Head of Federal Enterprise for Google, Inc. They join Secretary Chopra and Lemuel C. Stewart, Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia, on the roster of speakers for the conference.

"At the intersection of innovation and operational excellence, we have found leaders who will inspire attendees with what they have achieved and what they are planning," Chopra said. "We'll learn about the urgency of aligning innovation to public sector needs like renewable energy, about immersion in best practices to foster innovation in large, complex enterprises, and about ways to link university and community leaders in solutions to regional challenges such as low-cost broadband access, job opportunities through telework in rural areas, or micro-health insurance."

COVITS, the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium, attracts senior-level executives and decision makers in technology from state and local government, business, and education. The ninth annual conference will be held September 16-18 in Chantilly, Va, supported by key industry sponsors including Northrop Grumman, CGI, Verizon Business, Northern Virginia Technology Council, Microsoft, Dominion Resources, Oracle, Cisco, GTSI, Virginia.gov and Carilion Health System. The conference's media partners include Government Technology, Public CIO, and Emergency Management.

As the Commonwealth of Virginia continues to build on its landmark $2 billion public-private partnership to modernize its IT infrastructure, the COVITS 2007 theme of "Proceeding in Partnership" focuses on incorporating innovation to drive up performance in government operations. In addition to celebrating state and local agency case studies that advance Virginia's Strategic Plan for IT, the COVITS 2007 program devotes attention to three research and development topics: the role of IT in lowering energy consumption; the value of modeling and simulation to manage project risk; and surfacing tomorrow's microelectronics devices that will transform education and transportation.

Former Governor Mark Warner served as governor of Virginia from 2002 until January 2006. His administration inherited $6 billion in budget shortfalls... and ended with a surplus that allowed the largest single investment in K-12 education in Virginia history, a reinvestment in one of the nation's premier public college and university systems -- and a record investment in cleanup of the nation's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay. Governor Warner did this by cutting budgets, finding efficiencies and making business-like reforms to state government and public schools, and eventually taking on a modernization of Virginia's entire tax code to promote fairness, long-term fiscal integrity, and the preservation of core services. He put a focus on economic development in areas hard hit by job losses -- turning around jobless rates in those regions. Along the way, he chaired the National Governors Association, leading a national high school reform effort to meet the challenges of a global economy. He was named among Governing Magazine's "Public Officials of the Year" in 2004, TIME Magazine's "America's 5 Best Governors" in 2005, and Newsweek's "Who's Next" issue in 2006.

Jay McGonigle is Chairman of the Corporate Executive Board Company, with responsibility for board operations, strategic oversight and select talent development at this public company (NASDAQ: EXBD). CEB is the leading provider of best practices research and analysis focusing on corporate strategy, operations and general management issues. CEB provides its integrated set of services to more than 3,000 of the world's largest and most prestigious corporations, including over 80% of the Fortune 500. These services include best practices research studies, executive education seminars, customized research briefs and Web-based access to a library of corporate best practices, benchmarking databases and decision-support tools.

Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande, Founder and Chairman of Sycamore Networks, Inc., is an influential technology entrepreneur and visionary whose companies and ideas often reshape entire industries. Led by Dr. Deshpande's vision and direction, Sycamore has helped create a fundamental paradigm shift in the role and architecture of the optical network -- transforming a once static optical infrastructure into an intelligent and dynamic network foundation for the delivery of new services. Dr. Deshpande serves as a member of the MIT Corporation, and his generous donations have made possible MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. The Deshpande Center was created to serve as a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship by supporting research and collaboration among entrepreneurs, young companies, and MIT students, alumni, and faculty.

Michael Bradshaw, Head of Federal Enterprise, Google, Inc., manages Google's business with the U.S. government. He leads a team based in Washington, D.C., responsible for selling and marketing Google's innovative Enterprise solutions to the federal government. Mike began his career in IBM Federal as a systems engineer and moved into account management of Civilian Agencies. He also worked for Oracle in their Mid-Atlantic commercial sector. Mike received his MBA from George Washington University, and his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary.

About COVITS, www.covits.org

COVITS (the Commonwealth of Virginia's Innovative Technology Symposium) annually brings together senior-level executives and technology decision makers from state and local government, business, and education to propose and discuss solutions to Virginia's critical technology issues. The conference, in its ninth year, is hosted by Virginia's Secretary of Technology, Aneesh P. Chopra, on behalf of Governor Timothy M. Kaine.

For more information about COVITS 2007, call 703-481-5242 or visit www.covits.org.

Contact Information: Contacts: Judy Napier Deputy Secretary of Technology Commonwealth of Virginia 804-786-9579 Email Contact Kaitlyn Caterinicchia Media Coordinator COVITS 2007 703-742-7178 Email Contact