Benetech’s Jim Fruchterman is a Finalist for the 2003 World Technology Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

London/San Francisco, June 25 2003: The World Technology Network (WTN) announced today that James R. Fruchterman, President and CEO of Benetech, has been selected as a Finalist for the 2003 World Technology Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The Awards were presented by the WTN in association with Nasdaq, Accenture, Microsoft, Genencor International, Dupont Textiles and Interiors, TIME magazine, Technology Review magazine, Science magazine and Business 2.0 magazine. Selection as a finalist also means that Jim Fruchterman has been elected as a Fellow of the World Technology Network.

The new Fellows were announced on June 25, 2003 in San Francisco, at the World Technology Awards gala ceremony in the conclusion of the World Technology Summit. The World Technology Awards honor individuals and corporations from twenty technology-related sectors selected by their peers as being the innovators doing work of the greatest likely long-term significance. Award categories range from biotechnology, space and energy to ethics, design and entertainment.

“I am delighted to have been selected by my peers as a Finalist for the 2003 World Technology Awards in the Social Entrepreneurship category. With this recognition, I anticipate leveraging the vast experience and expertise of my fellow WTN members to advance Benetech’s mission of empowering disadvantaged communities worldwide,” said Jim Fruchterman.

Nominees for the 2003 World Technology Awards were identified through an intensive, global process in which current WTN members (primarily winners and finalists of previous Awards cycles) made their nominations and then voted their preferences based on who they think are most innovative and impactful within their particular field.

James P. Clark, founder and Chairman of the World Technology Network, added:

“The World Technology Awards program was created to recognize truly extraordinary innovation on a global scale, the sort of work that could be described as creating our collective future and changing our world. Benetech’s contribution in the field of social entrepreneurship has been outstanding, and the selection of Jim Fruchterman as a new WTN Fellow is public acknowledgement of that fact.”

About James R. Fruchterman

A highly successful technology entrepreneur, Jim Fruchterman has been a rocket scientist, founded the foremost optical character recognition manufacturer and developed a successful line of reading machines. Fruchterman co-founded Calera Recognition Systems in 1982. Calera developed character recognition that would allow computers to read virtually all printed text. In 1989, Fruchterman founded Arkenstone, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social enterprise, to produce reading machines for the disabled community based on the Calera technology. Following the sale of the Arkenstone product line in 2000, Fruchterman used all of the resulting capital to found Benetech, with an explicit goal to use the power of technology to serve humanity.

Fruchterman has also been active in public service, with two stints on U.S. federal advisory committees. Fruchterman was named as an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur 2003 by the Schwab Foundation and, as such, participated in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2003. He also received the Robert F. Bray Award from the American Council of the Blind, in recognition of his outstanding efforts to make literary works accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. In addition, Fruchterman is a cofounder, director and chief financial officer for RAF Technology, Inc., America's leading high-end OCR technology company, whose products are used by the U.S. Postal Service to route the mail.

About Benetech

The Benetech Initiative is a Silicon Valley nonprofit that develops sustainable, technology-based solutions to address pressing social challenges in areas such as disability, human rights, education and literacy. Many beneficial technologies have compelling social applications that are not developed because such efforts do not meet for-profit investors’ financial expectations. Benetech specifically pursues endeavors with a strong social, rather than financial, rate of return on investment, bringing commercial technology and private sector management techniques to bear in creating innovative, non-traditional solutions to challenging social issues. More information on Benetech and its projects can be found at www.benetech.org or by calling (650) 475-5440.

About The World Technology Network

The World Technology Network is a London-headquartered organization that was created to “encourage serendipity” – happy accidents – amongst those individuals and companies deemed by their peers to be the most innovative in the technology world. WTN's areas of interest range from IT and communications to biotech, energy, materials and space, as well as related fields such as finance, marketing, policy, law, design and ethics. Each year, WTN members are brought together through an ongoing global series of Roundtable Dinners, Chapter Meetings and other events. WTN also publishes “World Technology Intelligence,” a bi-monthly magazine about what is imminent, possible and important in the technology world, written largely by its own members – the people driving the most significant innovations. Central events in the WTN calendar include the annual World Technology Summit and World Technology Awards – the culmination of a global judging program through which new members are nominated and selected and by which the network grows and is refreshed.

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