XBRL International and XBRL US jointly announced keynote speakers to be featured at the 18th XBRL International Conference, Better Reporting for Better Decisions by Managers, Investors, Governments and Citizens, which will be held at the Reagan Building and International Trade Center on October 15-16, 2008. This global forum will bring together business leaders from around the world in investor communications, government and the governance/risk/compliance arena to discuss the impact of interactive information reporting on their practice areas. Keynote speakers include:

Christopher Cox, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Ira M. Millstein, Partner, Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP, Senior Associate Dean for Corporate Governance, Yale SOM

Kim Wallin, State Controller of Nevada

William Lutz, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University, Chair, SEC's 21st Century Disclosure Initiative

Liping Song, CEO, Shenzhen Stock Exchange

Kazuhiko Hanaoka, Corporate Vice President, Fujitsu Limited

This conference will build on the momentum behind interactive data worldwide both in the securities markets and in the public sector, with an emphasis on how data in XML-based format will favorably impact the consumer of public company data, government performance information, transactional information and other information.

"The keynote speakers that will be featured reflect not only the global nature of the conference program but of XBRL in general," said Alfred Berkeley, Chairman of the Board, XBRL US, CEO and Chairman, Pipeline Trading LLC. "Interactive data is not about the technology, it's about how people use interactive data. The speakers that will set the stage for this event represent true consumers of information for decision-making and will help articulate how XBRL can improve that process."

Other conference highlights:

Public company preparer training on creating XBRL-formatted financials to the SEC—this practical, hands-on session is free to preparers at U.S. listed companies that are full conference registrants and will cover creating XBRL financials for primary financial statements and block tagging of footnotes

In the Investor Communications Symposium, sessions will cover the impact of XBRL on the needs of sell-side, private equity, financial media and back office/settlement data plus how individual investor programs can be enhanced with XML-based information

The Public Sector Symposium will feature sessions on data exchange between the SEC and the FDIC, municipal data, and grants and how XML-based data will improve the process.

The Governance/Risk/Compliance Symposium will include sessions on internal controls, environmental social governance and executive compensation.

For more information about the conference, go to  and to register directly, go to . Early bird rates and hotel discounts expire 9/15.