Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) will hold its 12th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on June 27–29, to bring together the national leaders of the community technology field.

Sponsored by Hewlett-Packard Company ( http://www.hp.com/ ), with additional support from AOL Time Warner Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Tech Foundation, the conference is presented in collaboration with the Alliance for Technology Access and the Association for Community Networking. Participants will include more than 700 professionals from a diverse range of community technology centers and others from the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors.

Titled "Creating Our Future: Shaping the Agenda of Community Technology," the 2003 conference will seek to engage community technology practitioners in public policy advocacy and define a clear path forward during a time of uncertainty in the field.

"The past two years demonstrated to community technology practitioners and advocates that our network must do more than deliver great programs and measurable outcomes. We've learned that if we are not also involved in local, state, and national policy debates, important decisions will be made without us," says Kavita Singh, executive director of CTCNet. "Our collective action is not only necessary," says Singh, "it's effective."

In addition to 50 sessions presented by leading practitioners, conference events will include a series of pre-conference workshops on June 26th; an Exhibitor Showcase featuring vendors providing products and services to CTCs; the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative Open Source Cyber Café; regional and special-interest networking events; and the Community Technology Share Fair, where nonprofits can share their latest tools and resources.

The Friday evening CTCNet President's Reception, one of two first-time events during the conference, will honor leaders who are helping provide equitable access to information technology tools and skills. The evening's mistress of ceremonies will be award-winning CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman will deliver the keynote address.

An awards ceremony will recognize advocacy leaders and key congressional supporters, including Reps. Major Owens (D-N.Y.) and Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.); the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; former U.S. senator Max Cleland; and Hewlett-Packard. Other guests will include Reps. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Larry Irving.

CTCNet is a national, nonprofit membership organization of more than 1,000 independent community technology centers helping low-income communities gain access to information technologies and the skills to use them.

For more information, contact Anne Davis, CTCNet project coordinator, by phone at (858) 467-9989 or by e-mail at adavis@ctcnet.org