Cisco's Chairman and CEO John Chambers Addresses 900 Technology Leaders at TechCelebration: NVTC's Annual Banquet

Former NVTC Chair Dan Bannister Honored with Prestigious Chairman's Award; Green Awards and Government Contractor CTO Innovator Awards Winners Announced

HERNDON, Va., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Last night, 900 members of the Northern Virginia technology community gathered at TechCelebration, the annual banquet of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), the largest technology council in the nation. During the event, John Chambers, Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), delivered keynote remarks and NVTC honored the Council's former Chair Dan Bannister for his commitment to the region's technology business community and his civic and philanthropic accomplishments, including his role as a founder of NVTC's Equal Footing Foundation (EFF).

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"Each year, TechCelebration brings together technology, business, community and government leaders to celebrate the strength and diversity of our region's technology community, and we were honored to have John Chambers with us this year to share his insights on technology trends, global competitiveness and how the network is transforming business and government," said NVTC President & CEO Bobbie Kilberg. "This year's event was particularly meaningful for NVTC, as we honored former Chair Dan Bannister with the 2010 Chairman's Award for his unparalleled contributions to the Northern Virginia technology community, NVTC and the Equal Footing Foundation, NVTC's charitable arm."

During his remarks, Chambers discussed technology's role in global innovation and U.S. competitiveness, citing education, infrastructure, innovation, supportive government and collaboration as pillars of American competitiveness. He explained that technology enables work and collaboration in a dynamic networked organization by allowing businesses to deliver work to people instead of people traveling to the workplace. Chambers also argued that while innovation and operational excellence are both crucially important, "operational excellence always trumps innovation." Looking ahead, Chambers predicted that by 2014, more than 90 percent of all consumer Internet traffic will be video, and that video communications traffic will increase sevenfold. Concluding his remarks, he challenged government and business to work together to restore our economy and improve U.S. competitiveness.

The winners of NVTC's second annual Green Awards were announced and recognized for making an impact on the region through top-notch environmental practices. In addition, NVTC named the winners of the inaugural NVTC/Washington Technology Government Contractor CTO Innovator Awards who were honored for their critical contributions to achieving results for customers and leadership within their own companies.

Finalists and winners in each award category are listed below:  

Green Awards Large Company/Organization

• Hewlett-Packard (HP)
• ICF International (Winner)
• Inova Health System
• Neustar

Green Awards Small Company/Organization

• EcomNets (Winner)
• Vesper Wind
• Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts

Government Contractor CTO Innovator Awards Large Company

• R. Kent Buchanan, Harris Corporation
• Deborah Dunie, CACI International
• Richard Johnson, Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions
• Van Ristau, DLT Solutions
• Venkatapathi Puvvada, Unisys (Winner)

Government Contractor CTO Innovator Awards Midsize Company

• Robert Groat, Smartronix (Winner)
• Mark Haynie, Micro Focus
• Dr. Stephen Huffman, The MITRE Corporation
• Dr. H. Gilbert Miller, Noblis

Government Contractor CTO Innovator Awards Small Company

• Magued Barsoum, Fortress Technologies
• Tim Hoechst, Agilex Technologies
• Malcolm Hyson, Discover Technologies
• Khurram Shah, ICS-Nett, Inc.
• Visagar Shyamsundar, AMCAD (Winner)

The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) is the membership and trade association for the technology community in Northern Virginia. As the largest technology council in the nation, NVTC serves about 1,000 companies from all sectors of the technology industry, as well as service providers, universities, foreign embassies, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies. Through its member companies, NVTC represents about 200,000 employees in the region. NVTC is recognized as the nation's leader in providing its technology community with networking and educational events; specialized services and benefits; public policy advocacy; branding of its region as a major global technology center; initiatives in targeted business sectors and in the international, entrepreneurship, workforce and education arenas; the Equal Footing Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity that serves local area youth; and The Entrepreneur Center @NVTC which mentors new technology entrepreneurs. Visit NVTC at www.nvtc.org.

SOURCE Northern Virginia Technology Council