Industry Leaders Highlight 20 Years of Innovation at Echelon Anniversary Event
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) celebrated its twentieth anniversary at a briefing for press, analysts and partners. Speakers at the event included A.C. "Mike" Markkula, Echelon's founder and a co-founder of Apple, Inc.; Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystem's co-founder and chairman; Jim Rogers, Duke Energy's CEO, and Ken Oshman, Echelon's
chairman and CEO.
Mike Markkula opened the celebration with a brief history of the vision that prompted the founding of Echelon and how that vision has moved to reality. "Twenty years ago I founded Echelon with the simple idea that if tiny computers could be embedded all around us, monitoring and sensing their local environment and communicating that information with others of their kind, we could transform industries. We saw a world of smart buildings, factories, homes, and utility networks that used our technology to run more efficiently; lower costs; and improve quality, productivity and comfort. It took a tremendous amount of invention and innovation to bring that idea to reality – a reality that has exceeded my imagination. Today there are devices around the world networked with our technology, bringing intelligence to the infrastructure all around us and driving change across these industries and more."
According to Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, "We believe that we have a responsibility as a utility to drive change in the electric utility market — a market that has rightly been called ‘glacial' when describing the rate at which we innovate and adopt new technologies. Our Utility of the Future and Save-A-Watt programs are integral to our vision of embracing the latest and most reliable networking technologies to bring about a new age in electricity delivery, distribution, and management — one that is driven by knowledgeable consumers, customer-service and energy efficiency. Echelon plays an integral role in enabling that vision and in supplying us with the open, reliable networking infrastructure necessary for the success of both programs."
"We founded Sun Microsystems 26 years ago with the slogan ‘The Network is the Computer,'" said Sun chairman Scott McNealy. "Long before the Internet became a household word we understood the power that networks would bring to computing and the way they would transform not just our industry, but all industries. Echelon builds on that vision, further extending the reach of networks beyond computers into every device with an electronic heartbeat. And, just as computing networks have transformed business, these new networks that connect the world around us will transform industries. After twenty years, I think we're just at the beginning of the revolution — one that can deliver worldwide benefits in reduced energy consumption, better lifestyles, and healthier environments."
Ken Oshman, Echelon's chairman and CEO, summarized the morning's events, "As proud as I am of all that Echelon and its customers have accomplished over the past twenty years, I am even more excited about the opportunities looking forward. As energy costs continue to rise, and as concerns about the impact of global warming and carbon dioxide emissions grow, consumers, businesses, and governments are increasingly asking what they can do — and finding that Echelon, and our partners, provide products that are part of the solution. Today, the demand for energy has made it obvious that efficiency is the best, most accessible, and lowest cost alternative fuel in existence, and we believe Echelon is at the forefront in delivering the technology to make the world a more energy efficient, cleaner, and better place."
For more information, visit www.echelon.com.
About Echelon Corporation
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is a networking company that provides products and systems that can monitor and save energy; lower costs; improve productivity; and enhance service, quality, safety, and convenience by connecting everyday devices in utility, buildings, industrial, transportation, and home control systems. Tens of millions of smart devices based on Echelon's LonWorks® products and Networked Energy Services (NES) systems are used around the world today, bringing benefits to consumers and industry.# # #
            |
