Behind the Scenes at UN Meets Silicon Valley

Rob Katz — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 11:23:09 -0500

Last week, I attended "UN Meets Silicon Valley," an event convened by the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development. Craig Barrett, former CEO and now Chairman of Intel (full disclosure: WRI and Intel are partners), also chairs the UNGAID. Going in, I was a bit skeptical, since the UN and the corporate world are often so different. My main question was whether the event would run like a corporate meeting, or be dragged down in bureaucratic posturing.

Barrett's opening remarks were refreshing. He spoke without notes, clearly excited about the potential of Silicon Valley to push the ICT4D agenda forward. The UNGAID hopes to catalyze economic growth, and for Barrett, it all comes down to a simple question: "Where are the next billion users coming from?" His answer: emerging markets. No surprise there; Intel has been using the phrase "next billion users" for some time now in their communications. But for the chairman to say that in front of a room full of corporate competitors and UN reps shows his committment to the business side of ICT for development and the BOP theory in general.

Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General of the International, had the unenviable challenge of following Barrett. Between the requisite UN-ese of his slideshow, Touré managed to make a few off-the-cuff remarks, including a surprising "challenge" to Silicon Valley on the UN's behalf. No offense, but the UN tends to back away from challenges, so I saw this as a good step - they want to play ball, but won't let the businesses get decent PR and intelligence from the process unless they contribute.

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Behind the Scenes at UN Meets Silicon Valley