Meetings with technology companies
The focus was on advanced technology and cooperation when His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon met with Apple, as well as with Space Systems/Loral and Telenor today.
Norway is at the forefront in the use of new technology, and most Norwegians have the financial resources to buy many of the latest products.
Crown Prince Haakon visited the companies together with Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske, who proposed Norway as a potential location for large international data centres.
Apple
Apple is the world’s largest manufacturer of small-scale electronics, with products such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod and Mac. The company also provides other services, such as iTunes which distributes music, audio books and podcasts.
Apple recently lost one of its founders and key figures, Steve Jobs, and Crown Prince Haakon took the opportunity to extend his condolences when he was welcomed at Apple’s offices in Cupertino, California today.
At the meeting with Apple, Crown Prince Haakon was given a demonstration of the iPad2 and iPhone, in which he learned more about their functionality and the basic idea behind these products.
Cooperation on Thor 7
Later in the day, the Crown Prince and Minister of Trade and Industry met with Space Systems/Loral and Telenor in Palo Alto. Telenor recently signed a contract with Space Systems/Loral on the design and building of the Thor 7 communications satellite, which will improve Telenor’s broadcasting ability in Eastern and Central Europe and increase the capacity of its maritime communication services.
In turn, Space Systems/Loral has signed a contract with Norspace, a Norwegian company that manufactures telemetry, tracking and control (TTC) equipment. The contract will be beneficial for the Horten-based company, and is an important acknowledgement of the technology and electronics community in Norway.
John Celli, President of Space Systems/Loral, and Oddveig Tretterud, who headed up the work on Thor 7, welcomed Crown Prince Haakon and Minister Giske and accompanied them on a tour of the production facility to show them satellites in various stages of production.
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Welcoming the Restauration to the US
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon, along with a couple of thousand attendees, welcomed the sloop Restauration to New York, exactly 200 years after the vessel carrying Norwegian emigrants arrived in the United States. In 1825, they crossed the Atlantic in search of a new and better life. This voyage is regarded as the beginning of organised emigration from Norway.
Met with Governor Walz in Minnesota
Minnesota is one of the states in the United States where a large proportion of the population has Norwegian ancestry. His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon is therefore also visiting this state and its largest metropolitan area, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, during his trip to the United States to mark the 200th anniversary of Norwegian emigration to the US.