It is a great honor and pleasure to be asked by Dr. Fuchi to say a few words in 
front of such a distinguished group of scholars, government officials and representatives 
from the industry. In behalf of myself and all of the invited guests, I want to thank 
Dr. Fuchi and his staff for this splendid opportunity to come here and take part in this 
important event. 

I of course also want to extend my congratulations to ICOT on their 10 years of 
accomplishments and contributions to knowledge processing and to a new generation 
of computer technologies. But even more importantly, it is ICOT's relentless pursuit 
of an ambitious vision and their determined efforts to share that vision and the fruits 
of their labor with the international community that has captured most of our admi-
ration. In the United States, the computer research community has benefitted greatly 
from a number of collaborative arrangements under the joint sponsorship of ICOT and 
the National Science Foundation. Early on, we instituted a formal Visitors Program, 
which made it possible for the U.S. scientists to conduct long term research at ICOT. 
We have also held regular joint technical workshops and symposia and have seen many 
informal scientific visits and exchanges among the researchers from both countries. 

I am aware that other countries - France, Great Britain, Germany, and Sweden for 
example - have had similar arrangements with ICOT and participated, perhaps even 
more successfully in some cases, in its activities over the years. 

In a report of his recent visit to ICOT, Professor Woody Bledsoe of the University 
of Texas pointed out that one of ICOT's valuable assets is its willingness to listen to 
and make use of the scientific expertise from over the world. I believe that this asset 
is an important hallmark of this institution and it has indirectly contributed to the 
many successes that ICOT has enjoyed in the course of their 10-year project. As an 
NSF officer and a member of the scientific community, I wish to express our sincere 
appreciations to ICOT and to the architect behind it - the Ministry of International 
Trade and Industry, for their leadership, generous support and their commitment to 
the advancement of science on a global level. 


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