On behalf of the leadership of the Maryland General Assembly, the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies organizes an annual conference on high technology in the State of Maryland.

The technology summit held in February, 2003, focused on the ways in which technology companies have financed their launch and growth, and discussions of how the state could help. Speakers were recruited from all technology sectors -- bioscience and medical devices, informationa technology (including communications), high tech machinery and instruments, private sector research and development, defense and aerospace, and chemicals.

The featured lunchtime speakers were U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes and Maryland Secretary of Business and Economic Development Aris Melissaratos.

Over 250 state legislators and government officials, technology business representatives, members of the academic community, and press attended the summit, which was sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Greater Baltimore Technology Council, and the Technology Council of Maryland.