Keynote Speaker Named for 2011 Collaboration & Interoperability Congress

Dick Morley to Give Manufacturers a View into a 'Factory Floor of Innovation'

LOVELAND, Colo — Longview Advisors, organizers of the annual Collaboration & Interoperability Congress (CIC), announced today its keynote speaker for its 2011 event ( www.3DCIC.com) to be held May 23-25, 2011 in Denver, Colorado.

Dick Morley is father of the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), inventor of the floppy disk, a venture capitalist, and a renowned thinker, speaker, and author. He will give the keynote address to kick off the 2011 annual CIC event. His keynote will dovetail with the three-day event, covering current challenges and solutions in product development and design collaboration.

Morley is a director of innovation at Cyon Research, an independent think tank serving the engineering software community. Morley is a visionary and an entrepreneur in advanced technological developments holding more than 20 patents. His contributions have been acknowledged with numerous awards from groups such as Inc. Magazine, the Franklin Institute, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the Engineering Society of Detroit, and induction into the Manufacturing Hall of Fame. His latest book, Techshock: Caution: Future Under Repair, is typical of his unusual approach to problems, as is his venture into manufacturing chocolate with lessons learned from nanotechnology.

Morley will share insights into his approach to problems [thinking], looking back at the 40-year history and role of the PLC in global technology (including the bold new Stuxnet worm), and leading up to a discussion of his latest project – rethinking the role of the PLC and the new paradigm that will replace it.

According to Morley, "On January 1, 1968, I had a hangover and needed stimulation. That started the process of inventing the PLC, which has become a $12 billion business. Now it's 40-plus years later and time to revisit. What would the PLC look like if I invented it now? It's mission critical for IT and management, and the factory floor needs to be real-time and tightly coupled to existing IT and management systems. We've got to optimize maintenance, scheduling, TTM and physical asset management —and it's got to be hacker-resistant. It boggles the mind. This will be the first time we'll let anyone see what we're thinking. No products – just our thought process... and we're thinking hard. Bring a couple of cups of coffee with you; no hangover necessary."