The UN in Silicon Valley?
The Silicon Valley Challenge Summit gets its name from the 2002 call by Kofi Annan for Silicon Valley institutions to take a more active role in harnessing ICT for international development. Such a role, especially if it takes place under the umbrella of large multilateral organizations such as the UN or the WB, does not sit well with many folks in the Valley, who see these institutions (and often rightly so) as too slow, too bureaucratic, too big to get things done. There are echoes here of the argument by William Easterly in White Man's Burden about the difference between the planners and the doers, and people in Silicon Valley, especially its enterprises, would certainly count themselves among the latter. They get things done, focus on the outcome, want to see tangible actions and results.
It was thus no surprise that we got some rolling eyes when we first suggested the idea of organizing an event focused on Silicon Valley's responses to the UN Challenges, but the idea got traction, and on November 16, we will see the results of 11 months of planning and hard work.
There will be a personal message of Kofi Annan to Summit attendants (of course we would have preferred it if he came in person, especially because he will not be the UN's Secretary-General that much longer, but can Kofi ever committ to anything, with the world on fire as it is?).
The latest mega UN initiative in the ICTD area is the GLobal Alliance for ICT and Development, which is the successor to the ICT Taskforce and came out of the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society. Sarabuland Khan, the Executive Coordinator of the Alliance, will be at the Summit to invite attendants, and Silicon Valley at large, to become a part of the Alliance. We hope that the institutions of the Bay Area can rise to the occasion, and moreover assume a leadership position corresponding to its wealth, influence and technological expertise. And we hope that they do it the Silicon Valley way. That's why the Summit is a call to action, not to another Summit.
There are hopeful signs. Craig Barrett, the Chairman of Intel, is serving as the first Chairman of the Alliance. According to him, “it’s time to turn the spirit of UN WSIS into action. The ICT industry has an opportunity to build from its history of creativity and innovation to further contribute to economic and social development." Sounds familiar? And Mr. Barrett will bring this message to the Summit in person, as the respondent to Mr. Khan's keynote. This high-level engagement of Valley execs, which follows on the work that John Chambers and Carly Fiorina did with the ICT Taskforce, should quieten some critics.
As to the rest, and all others interested in participating in formulating a Silicon Valley response to the UN challenges, Santa Clara University is the place to be on November 16.
RiOS