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Fieldbus Foundation meets in Antwerp in 2008

08/22/2007

AUSTIN, Texas, -- The Fieldbus Foundation has  announced
that its 2008 General Assembly will be held in Antwerp, Belgium, on February
27-29. Planned for the Antwerp Hilton Hotel, the annual event is open to
Fieldbus Foundation members and non-members and will be attended by
FOUNDATION technology suppliers, end users and other industry
participants from around the world.

The theme of this year's General Assembly, "Why FOUNDATION has become THE
standard?" reveals that FOUNDATION fieldbus technology is widely used in
process industries, providing a total control system technology
infrastructure for industrial manufacturing to enable significant plant
performance and economic improvements. Unlike a traditional control
platform, FOUNDATION technology is intended to unify open, scalable
integration, process integrity and business intelligence as part of a
single, plant-wide solution.

Marc Van Pelt, vice-president of Fieldbus Foundation - EMEA Operations,
welcomed the European venue for the Fieldbus Foundation's General Assembly saying, "Antwerp is the largest petrochemical production center in Europe and is ranked, worldwide, second after Houston, Texas, USA. It is an extremely appropriate venue for this key annual fieldbus event."
 
The 2008 General Assembly will commence on Wednesday, February 27, with an
overview of current Fieldbus Foundation developments across the globe. The
presentations for the general program on Wednesday and Thursday will
include end-user presentations by industry experts focused on process
integrity, open scalable integration, business intelligence, asset
management, factory site acceptance testing, commissioning and trouble-
shooting in the context of the end user's own worldwide FOUNDATION fieldbus
implementation experiences in a wide range of process industry applications.
Supporting demonstrations, vendor visits and question and answer sessions
will provide ample opportunity for an active exchange of experiences and
insights.

An evening reception for all attendees on the opening day will be
highlighted by a keynote address by Dr. Norbert Kuschnerus, President of the
NAMUR Board of Management and Senior Vice President - Bayer Technology
Services GmbH, Leverkusen, Germany. Dr. Kuschnerus will discuss how end
users like Bayer can fully use the enabling capabilities of fieldbus
technology now and in the future.

On Friday, February 29, the Fieldbus Foundation will conduct its annual
business meeting for members only. Non-members are invited to participate in
end user training workshops focused on topics including engineering,
implementation and maintenance, during which attendees can benefit from
expert tuition from Fieldbus Foundation technical personnel with the
opportunity for hands-on practical training.

For the duration of the General Assembly, major control system and
instrumentation suppliers will take part in a tabletop exhibition showcasing
working demonstrations of the latest FOUNDATION products, solutions and
services, offering attendees some hands-on experience.