State Dept. Sends Tech Execs To Baghdad
* * * Updated 5 p.m. ET * * *
A handful of U.S. high-tech executives left for Baghdad Sunday on a trip arranged by the State Department, an agency spokesman said at a Monday briefing. The junket is the first of its kind for the CEOs, vice presidents and senior representatives from AT&T, Google, YouTube, Twitter, WordPress, Howcast, Meetup, Blue State Digital and others. Blue State Digital has strong ties to President Obama, having provided his campaign and the transition team with a number of services ranging from online fundraising and voter outreach to social networking and Web hosting. Google CEO Eric Schmidt and other company executives have also served as advisers to Obama.
"While in Iraq, the group will explore new opportunities to support Iraqi government and non-government stakeholders in Iraq's emerging new media industry," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. During their visit, they will provide conceptual input as well as ideas on how new technologies can be used to build local capacity, foster greater transparency and accountability, build upon anti-corruption efforts, promote critical thinking in the classroom, scale up civil society, and further empower local entities and individuals by providing the tools for network building. "As Iraqis think about how to integrate new technology as a tool for smart power, we view this as an opportunity to invite American technology industry to be part of this creative genesis," Wood said.
Wood was unable to identify the names of the executives on the trip but said he would try to furnish a list later in the day. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton "has been a strong proponent of using a full range of tools, including emerging new media and communication technologies, to leverage capabilities that will allow for diplomacy not just with governments but also with people and between different associates," he said. Earlier this month, Clinton hired on as her senior innovation adviser Alec Ross, who served on Obama's transition team and co-founded the nonprofit One Economy, which uses technology to assist low income communities.
Updated [5 p.m.]: Jared Cohen, a member of Clinton's policy and planning staff is leading the new media delegation to Iraq. Participants include: Howcast CEO Jason Lieberman; Blue State Digital Vice President David Nassar; Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman; Automatic/WordPress Vice President Raanan Bar-Cohen; AT&T Social Innovation Director Richard Robbins; Twitter Chairman Jack Dorsey; Google International Engineering Operations Director Kannan Pashupathy; Google Head of Engineering Middle East/North Africa Ahmad Hamzawi; YouTube Head of Product Development Hunter Walk; and Wired Magazine senior writer Steven Levy.
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