CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and ZARAGOZA, Spain  The MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL) and the Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC) in Spain are pleased to announce the Crossroads 2007: Supply Chain Innovation Summit to be held March 21-22, 2007 in Zaragoza, Spain featuring keynote speaker Professor Susan Hochfield, President of MIT.

This premiere supply chain event co-sponsored by the two centers will bring together global leaders in business, academia, and government to discuss the innovative strategies, processes and technologies being used to successfully manage increasingly complex supply chains and examine the impact of these advances on business and consumers.

Other featured speakers include: Robert A. Willett - CIO, Best Buy/CEO, Best Buy International; LaVerne H. Council and CIO, Johnson & Johnson; Robert W. Moffat - Sr. Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain, IBM; and Diego del Alcazar - President, Instituto de Empresa.

"In a business environment of increasing globalization, savage price competition, increased customer demand, and ever-changing technologies, organizations must continuously incorporate innovations into their supply chain to remain competitive," said Professor Yossi Sheffi, Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics and MIT Professor of Engineering Systems. "At theCrossroads 2007 Summit, we will have some of the top thought and business leaders talking about the latest innovations and how they've integrated them into their supply chain in a way that creates competitive advantage."

The Supply Chain Innovation Summit is part the MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program, a research and education partnership established in 2003. The program brings together the logistics and supply chain interests of academia, industry and government through a collaboration among CTL, ZLC, the government of Aragn, PLAZA logistics park, and industry partners. 

While Crossroads symposia are typically held at MIT, both centers decided Zaragoza, Spain, was a fitting venue for a summit on supply chain innovation.  "The Government of Aragn in Spain has made enormous strides in making Zaragoza an international center for supply chain management, from its investment in the MIT-Zaragoza partnership to its progress in building PLAZA, one of the largest logistics parks in the world," said Dr. Jarrod Goentzel, Executive Director of the MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program.   "In addition, the trend in Spain and throughout Europeto significantly increase investment in research and innovation  working closely with industry makes this an ideal backdrop for a major MIT event."

For more information on the event, please visit www.zlc.edu.es/Summit07.

About the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics has been a world leader in supply chain management research and education for more than three decades.  Combining its cutting edge research with industry relationships, the Center's corporate outreach program turns innovative research into market-winning commercial applications.  And in education, MIT is consistently ranked first among business programs in logistics and supply chain management.     For more information, see ctl.mit.edu.

About the Zaragoza Logistics Center
The Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC), a research institute associated with the University ofZaragoza in Spain, partnered with the Center for Transportation & Logistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop world-class education and research in logistics and supply chain management.  ZLC is directly linked with the development of PLAZA, the largest logistics park in Europe, which researchers use as a large-scale laboratory to develop new concepts and technologies.  To rapidly disseminate new knowledge and train future leaders, the ZLC offers graduate and executive education - taught in English and Spanish, outreach events, and industry partnerships. For more information, see www.zlc.edu.es.