Annual, worldwide FOUNDATION fieldbus event to focus on Plant-wide Integration
AUSTIN, TX, Nov. 3, 2004 < The Fieldbus Foundation today announced that its 2005 General Assembly will be held in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday, February 23, and Thursday, February 24, at the InterContinental Hotel. This year's event, themed Plant-wide Integration: HSE + H1, will follow a comprehensive, end user-oriented agenda that includes user case studypresentations, technical training workshops and tabletop exhibitions.Following its highly successful exhibit at Interkama 2004 in Hannover, Germany, and the establishment of a FOUNDATION fieldbus Centre of Excellence at the Infraserv Höchst Technik facility in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, the Fieldbus Foundation selected Vienna as the ideal site for this year's General Assembly.
Vienna is a key center for international trade and one of Europe's major crossroads; its proximity to Eastern Europe attracts a knowledgeable, multinational population.The 2005 General Assembly follows recent, successful Fieldbus Foundation events in the Americas, Asia/Pacific and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa including CIS). These end user and developer-based gatheringsshowed strong, continued market growth for FOUNDATION fieldbus, and acknowledged worldwide industry support for the technology.According to Fieldbus Foundation President and CEO Richard Timoney, the 2005 General Assembly will highlight the expanding adoption rate of FOUNDATION fieldbus across Europe and around the globe.
He said, Study results from the ARC Advisory Group show that FOUNDATION fieldbus is now the preferredtechnology for new fieldbus projects retrofit Timoney continues, Across Europe, and particularly in countries such as Russia, Poland and Germany, FOUNDATION technology has made major inroads in all areas of industry. European projects account for a significant share of all fieldbus installations worldwide. Therefore, Vienna is an ideallocation for this year's event.The 2005 General Assembly will begin with a welcome reception on the evening of Wednesday, February 23, where attendees will have the opportunity to discuss their ideas for implementing FOUNDATION fieldbus with industry professionals and technology experts.
Both a prominent automation equipment manufacturer and an international end user will deliver keynote speeches.The General Assembly program will feature workshops for process control vendors, end users and contractors, focusing on the key issues of plant-wide integration with FOUNDATION fieldbus.
Attendees will receive valuable information concerning fieldbus installations and advancements, togetherwith user case studies demonstrating the benefits of the technology.The Fieldbus Foundation's annual business meeting will be conducted during the morning of Thursday, February 24.Throughout the event, member companies will display their latest FOUNDATION fieldbus field devices and host systems in a series of tabletop exhibits.The full 2005 General Assembly agenda will be announced in the near future.For more information about the 2005 General Assembly, or to register, please visit www.fieldbus.org .
About the Fieldbus Foundation
The Fieldbus Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation consisting of over 350 leading process and manufacturing automation companies worldwide whose major purpose is to provide an open and neutral environment for the development of a single, international, interoperable fieldbus. In this environment, end users, manufacturers, universities and research organizations are working together to develop the technology, provide development tools, support and training, coordinate field trials and demonstrations, and enable product interoperability. Visit their web site at www.fieldbus.org .