From: Anne Tyrrell
[atyrrell@prismpublicaffairs.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2013
10:21 AM
To: Anne Tyrrell
Subject: Note from Jim Kirkland on the
launch of the GPS Innovation Alliance
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
Dear Fellow Members of the
Coalition to Save Our GPS:
I am pleased to tell you of
an exciting new development in the ongoing work to support GPS, the important
technology to which we all have such a strong commitment.
As you’ll see in the below
press release, being distributed today, the GPS Innovation Alliance is being
launched today.
As the release states, the
Alliance will serve as an organization dedicated to telling the broad story of
the importance of GPS to the global economy and infrastructure, and the
continuing dramatic innovations being made in this field. The Alliance will
build on the excellent work of the traditional GPS advocacy and information
group, the United States GPS Industry Council, founded in 1991.
We are still planning the
full transition to the new Alliance structure, and we will be certain to
communicate more details and information to Coalition members once that
planning is completed.
In the meantime, thank you
for your continued strong support of the Coalition. We are less than a month
away (March 10) from celebrating the two-year anniversary of the Coalition’s
launch. Working together, we have made a significant impact on the public
policy issues surrounding GPS, protecting this invaluable and essential
technology that has made a positive difference in the lives of so many.
Jim Kirkland
Trimble
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 13, 2013
CONTACT: Prism Public Affairs
Dale Leibach: 202-207-3630 or dleibach@prismpublicaffairs.com
Anne Tyrrell: 202-207-3632 or atyrrell@prismpublicaffairs.com
GPS Innovation Alliance
Launches to Support the Ever Increasing Importance of GPS
Alliance cites
importance of GPS to global economy and infrastructure; vows to aid further GPS
innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship as well as protect, promote and
enhance the use of GPS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citing the
ever increasing importance of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to the global
economy and infrastructure, a group of GPS advocates today announced the
formation of the GPS Innovation Alliance, an organization dedicated to
furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
Members of the Alliance are
drawn from a wide variety of fields and businesses reliant on GPS. These include
manufacturing, aviation, agriculture, construction, transportation, first
responders and surveying and mapping. Still others are organizations
representing consumers who depend on GPS for boating and other outdoor
activities, and in their automobiles, smartphones and tablets.
Headquartered in Washington,
D.C., the GPS Innovation Alliance welcomes affiliates who share in the goal of
protecting, promoting and further enhancing one of the world’s most important
enabling technologies – technologies that improve the lives of people around
the globe.
The Alliance will build on
the proud heritage and extensive expertise of the United States GPS Industry
Council (USGIC), which was formed in 1991 to promote broader commercial
applications of GPS and to expand global markets while assisting in
safeguarding the technology’s military advantages. The Council has a long
history of highly effective advocacy on behalf of the GPS industry, as well as
serving as a trusted source of objective information for policy makers, the
media and the public both in the U.S. and around the world.
Two long-time members of the
USGIC, NovAtel Inc. and Topcon Positioning Systems, join John Deere, Garmin and
Trimble as founding members of the Alliance.
Affiliate members include the
Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), General Aviation Manufacturers
Association (GAMA) and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
Following is a sampling of
comments from representatives of some of the companies that are founding
members of the Alliance.
Mark N. Lewellen,
Spectrum Manager, John Deere:
“GPS plays a critical role in
Deere’s agriculture, construction and forestry businesses in the U.S. and
around the world. It helps to increase the efficiency and productivity of our
customers and is an important part of Deere’s FarmSight and WorkSight
strategies. In supporting the new GPS Innovation Alliance, Deere
continues its commitment to protecting, promoting and enhancing the use of GPS,
both now and well into the future.”
Scott
Burgett, Director, GNSS & Software Technology, Garmin International:
“GPS and its many
uses and innovations are essential and ubiquitous to the lives of Americans and
the American economy. Garmin is pleased to be a founding member of the GPS
Innovation Alliance and help bring that message to policy makers in Washington
and around the country. Garmin looks forward to working with the Innovation
Alliance as we move forward together to preserve and grow this critical
infrastructure.”
Jim Kirkland, Vice
President and General Counsel, Trimble:
“GPS has a rich history of
technological innovation. From its infancy just over 30 years ago, the GPS of
today is a highly innovative, successful and increasingly ubiquitous technology
that is critical to smart infrastructure, services and applications. The
Alliance is committed to ensuring constructive, robust dialog between GPS
users, manufacturers and policy makers on critical policy issues affecting GPS
– a commitment Trimble is pleased to be a part of as the industry continues to
innovate and modernize.”
The GPS Innovation Alliance
launches today with a reception on Capitol Hill. The newly launched website can
be viewed at www.gpsalliance.org.
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