Leaders from many countries are meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week to share wisdom, pain and real plans for making the world a better place.
We have more access to who’s there, what they’re saying and what are the real big ideas that can really be put into action. I’ll be tuning into YouTube and sharing some on Facebook (Intel World Ahead) some of the things Intel Chairman Craig Barrett and his team are doing at Davos. There’s a cool “The Davos Question” YouTube site where people can upload videos and share the stories they want world leaders to hear.
The Power of Collaborative Innovation is this year’s theme. What’s powerful is when we can begin to see leaders join forces and integrate their great efforts to make a bigger, quicker and more meaningful impact in places around the world.
Dr. Barrett will show how he is leading commitments to invest in teachers, education tools and even healthcare efforts around the world. In the February issue of Fast Company, Dr. Barrett tells it like it is — he’s working hard with many leaders around the world, and making real progress.
“The various ministers and presidents always ask Intel to build a plant in their country to create jobs,” says a former Intel senior executive. “That is obviously not possible, at least not in every country around the world. So the Intel execs give an answer along the lines of, ‘We understand your desire to join the digital revolution, and we are going to do even better than building a plant. We are going to train your teachers in the use of technology.'” That, says the former exec, means “more good PR at a reasonable cost.”
The Fast Time story — “Intel’s Amazon Ambitions” — focuses on Intel World Ahead efforts called “The Most Remote Digital City,” a WiMAX equipped city of Parintins located in the heart of the Amazon.
“The demonstration projects are a rip-off of the Nike slogan, ‘Just do it,'” says Barrett. “I’ve given presentations around the world about the latest broadband wireless technologies. People will say, ‘That’s very interesting,’ and go away. But if you do a demonstration like Parintins in their backyard, people take notice. And they start to say, ‘This is not theory. Look, it’s real. You can touch it.'”
The Fast Company article ends:
Hardly the hyperbolic digital makeover of Intel’s initial press release. “These kids now have a little more opportunity than they did before,” Barrett says, “and we’re seeding the forest for the next billion trees.” Not to mention the next billion customers.
Here a related videointerview with Dr. Barrett from February 2007. You can hear his heart’s in it!
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Movin' Ahead 