WASHINGTON D.C. - Despite the economic ups and downs of the technology sector, technological progress continues apace.  But in what directions is it propelling silicon chips, networks and applications?  Three respected industry experts will provide their informed perspectives on the matter next week at The Progress & Freedom Foundation's Aspen Summit.   They will appear on a technology roundtable to be held Tuesday, August 19, at 1:30 p.m., at the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen, Colorado.

Confirmed for the roundtable, "Chips, Networks & Apps: Where Things Are & Where They're Going," are Steve Cakebread, CFO of Salesforce.com, Pat Gelsinger, SVP and CTO of Intel and Mark Wegleitner SVP and CTO at Verizon Communications. Raymond Gifford, president of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, will moderate. Among the questions on Gifford's mind: Will the modularity and openness of the Internet be replaced by more vertical integration? Do the former characteristics provide limitations? What legal or regulatory hurdles stand in the way of the sectors' progress? What to do about spam, security and privacy?

The Aspen Summit - an annual gathering of top digital doers and thinkers from business, government and academia - runs August 17-19.  Headliners this year include Mel Karmazin, president and COO of Viacom, John Chen, chairman and CEO of Sybase, Inc., FCC Chairman Michael Powell and FTC Chairman Timothy Muris.  Also featured are senior executives of AOL Time Warner, Allegiance Telecom, Autodesk, BellSouth, Insight Communications, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Covad, EMI Group, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Movielink, Qwest, Red Hat, Salesforce.com, SBC, Universal Pictures, Verizon and Verizon Wireless, as well as FCC Commissioners Kathleen Abernathy and Kevin Martin, and FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle. Further details and registration information are available.

Following its 1995 debut, the Aspen Summit earned a reputation as one of the most interesting events of its kind. (Wired compared it to the Davos summit in Switzerland and the famed Renaissance Weekend.) Recent speakers include Jeff Bezos, Carly Fiorina, Peter Chernin, Ivan Seidenberg and Les Vadasz. Members of the audience - who often include the likes of Michael Eisner and John Doerr - also contribute to discussions.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.