And I must say today the quality, the tone of the presentations, the range, the sophistication is really impressive. And it is good to be able to reach out and meet so many new people as well as to greet old friends from San Francisco, Washington and other places where we have come together. We still have a long way to go, and I doubt that, as we gather here this morning, any of us would quarrel with the assertion that the Internet enables transformation of business and represents a set of challenges for established business similar to those we faced when the industrial revolution began in the 19th Century. A networked economy is the rule. The interdependencies are prevalent and growing.
Companies are dependent on one another for survival and success.
In a word, it would be hard to argue with the proposition that the age of information technology is a time of unprecedented change and opportunity. And the opposite side of that coin is that opportunity contains risk. The age of information technology is also about managing new risks. Today, I would like to talk with you for a few moments about those risks and what we have to do to cope with them. We are assembled here today commissioned with a responsibility of charting our way in new territory.