Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX), a world leader in storage solutions, today announced that it has co-founded the Storage Products Association (SPA), a new forum designed to educate consumers and professionals alike about the critical role hard disk drive (HDD) and solid state hybrid drive (SSHD) technologies plays in today’s digital age.

Newly formed, the Storage Product Association’s mission is to help storage manufacturers and consumers alike understand the pivotal role that storage offerings such as HDD and SSHD technologies play in an effective storage mix for all consumer and business environments.

“The market for storage continues to grow at an explosive rate with estimates now predicting that by 2020 demand will reach 6 zettabytes annually,” said Jeff Burke, Seagate vice president of strategic marketing and research.  “As the purveyor of the broadest storage portfolio in the industry, Seagate is committed to sharing the benefits of storage technologies and the right storage mix for consumer and enterprise needs. We are pleased to join SPA as we view the association as an excellent forum for educating the public at large.”

In addition to informing customers, partners, members and users about current storage offerings, SPA will strive to provide balanced and informative information to the marketplace about cutting-edge storage technologies such as shingle magnetic recording and heat-assisted magnetic recording and the role these new technologies may serve in the future.

Making its debut this week at the Flash Memory Summit 2013, SPA founding members will participate together in a panel titled, “Solid State Hybrid Drives Help Meet Today’s Storage Requirements” to discuss the pivotal role of hard disk drives and solid state hybrid drives. The panel discussion will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center at 8:30am in Santa Clara, California. John Rydning, IDC’s research vice president, for hard drives and semiconductors, will moderate the panel.