It’s a pleasure to be here and to be a part of this important conversation about the role of innovation in North Carolina’s future growth and prosperity. Of course, as you all know, innovation is an elusive concept, and no less elusive is what we can do to create more of it. But I do believe we can be certain about three things.
The Clearing System Steering Committee has agreed to appoint a project adviser to assist in defining the system architecture, preparing a Request-for-Proposal (RFP) and evaluating the system proposals. The Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) system should be operational at the end of May 2004.