Veteran Open Source Technologist to Keynote AstriCon 2010

Digium®, Inc., the Asterisk® Company, today announced that Mark Summer, veteran open source technologist and humanitarian, will deliver the keynote presentation at the seventh annual AstriCon Open Source Telephony Conference and Exhibition 2010, the longest running conference devoted to the Asterisk telephony platform. Summer's muchanticipated keynote will complement the conference theme of "Asterisk: The World is Calling." The robust program of expert presentations and breakout sessions will address trends from SIP security to Asterisk in the public sector. This year's event, from October 26-28, 2010, near Washington, D.C., brings together an expansive group of developers, enterprise IT professionals, resellers, integrators and other Asterisk enthusiasts to celebrate the world's most widely used open source telephony software.

A successful serial entrepreneur and world traveler, Summer has specialized in VoIP/IP networking architectures and operations management for more than 15 years. Having built and run several IT consulting and VoIP network design companies, he and his business partners founded Inveneo, a social enterprise dedicated to improving communications in remote and rural communities through open source technology. In his keynote presentation, Summer will share his realworld experiences utilizing open source Asterisk to extend communications and unearth new opportunities in underserved communities in Haiti and Sub-Saharan Africa.

"The ability to place phone calls is often something we take for granted, but in many areas of the world this critical technology remains out of reach due to cost, complexity and implementation challenges associated with traditional telecommunications infrastructures," said John Todd, Asterisk open source community director at Digium. "As Asterisk continues to have an impact on business communications, it will be interesting to learn and discuss how Asterisk enhances local economies and improves quality of life in other parts of the world."

AstriCon 2010 will take place from October 26-28, 2010, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Additional information and open registration are available at http://www.astricon.net.