WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced retired Gen. Keith Alexander, former Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, will deliver the keynote address at SIA’s 40th Anniversary Award Dinner, taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 14 in San Jose, Calif. Alexander, who currently serves as CEO and President of IronNet Cybersecurity, will offer insight on how America’s national security depends heavily on maintaining global leadership in the technologies that are crucial to the functioning of the U.S. military, including semiconductors. He will also discuss the importance of promoting next-generation technologies in order to tackle America’s future cybersecurity challenges.

“Gen. Keith Alexander knows what it takes to maintain and strengthen U.S. defense and cybersecurity, including the importance of advancing America’s global technology leadership,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Semiconductors enable our military’s critical communications, navigation, weapons, and intelligence systems, as well as emergent applications like high-performance computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and others that are central to our national security. A vibrant commercial sector is needed to advance these defense technologies and to ensure robust U.S. cybersecurity. Given Gen. Alexander’s wide-ranging national security knowledge and experience, we look forward to hearing his perspectives on these matters as the keynote presenter at SIA’s 40^th Anniversary Award Dinner.”

Alexander is a four-star general with an impressive 40-year military career. His tenure as NSA Director (2005-2014) was longer than any other director. While serving in that role, Alexander was appointed by Congress to be the first Commander to lead the U.S. Cyber Command. He held this role from 2010-2014, establishing and defining how our nation is protected against cyber attacks. Serving as a member of the President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, Alexander developed key recommendations to create a defensible national cyber architecture to protect national security by promoting rapid innovation and close public-private collaboration while preserving privacy and civil liberties.

The SIA Award Dinner also will feature the presentation of the semiconductor industry’s highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award, to former Micron CEO Mark Durcan. The Noyce Award is named in honor of semiconductor industry pioneer Robert N. Noyce, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel. 

Media Contact
Dan Rosso
Semiconductor Industry Association
202-446-1719
drosso@semiconductors.org

About SIA
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is the voice of the U.S. semiconductor industry, one of America’s top export industries and a key driver of America’s economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness. Semiconductors – microchips that control all modern electronics – enable the systems and products we use to work, communicate, travel, entertain, harness energy, treat illness, and make new scientific discoveries. The semiconductor industry directly employs nearly a quarter of a million people in the U.S. In 2016, U.S. semiconductor company sales totaled $164 billion, and semiconductors make the global trillion dollar electronics industry possible. SIA seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership of semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research by working with Congress, the Administration and other key industry stakeholders to encourage policies and regulations that fuel innovation, propel business and drive international competition. Learn more at www.semiconductors.org.

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SOURCE Semiconductor Industry Association