Is this the era of tech diplomacy? Silicon Valley鈥檚 big week with world leaders.
Leaders of India and China sought to promote and expand their tech agendas by forging relationships with influential executives and companies, placing Silicon Valley in the driver鈥檚 seat of key US interests.
Leaders of India and China sought to promote and expand their tech agendas by forging relationships with influential executives and companies, placing Silicon Valley in the driver鈥檚 seat of key US interests.
Silicon Valley took a stab at international diplomacy this past week, welcoming two major world leaders: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Both sought to promote and expand their tech agendas by forging relationships with influential executives and companies, placing Silicon Valley in the driver鈥檚 seat of key US interests.
But the two most populous countries in the world differ in their technology goals.
Mr. Modi aimed to build support for the Digital India initiative, a plan that calls for greatly expanding the Internet infrastructure in India鈥檚 rural areas, in addition to digitizing government services and increasing 鈥渄igital literacy.鈥� Modi believes Internet access is key to lifting people out of poverty, a belief that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg conveyed during a recent speech at the UN.
Over the course of his visit, the prime minister crossed paths with executives from Microsoft, Adobe, Uber, Google, and Facebook (Mr. Zuckerberg hosted Modi at Facebook鈥檚 headquarters for a discussion and pre-screened Q&A session with employees and others invited by the Indian embassy).
And Modi did not leave empty handed: Google agreed to provide free public Wi-Fi in 500 train stations throughout India. But as The New York Times鈥� Vindu Goel reported, Modi鈥檚 trip was about domestic politics more than anything:
Noticeably absent from Modi鈥檚 discussions was the issue of privacy, a significant concern in the digital era, particularly since the NSA revelations. Last month, a group of academics questioned Digital India鈥檚 motives, citing an increased capability for surveillance as a major concern:
Meanwhile, Mr. Xi's visit took a different tone. Issues pertaining to cybersecurity remained a top priority in light of how hacks emanating from China against US companies and government agencies have become ritualized (though they slowed ahead of Xi's visit with President Obama). As Re/code鈥檚 Noah Kulwin reported, Xi had domestic goals of his own:
That last part is key. China鈥檚 massive middle-class market represents a crucial opportunity for American business, but some US companies are still barely in reach. Zuckerberg has been openly frustrated over his company鈥檚 exclusion from China, and is even learning Mandarin, partly to better understand Chinese culture, perhaps with the eventual goal of bringing his social network to the country鈥檚 nearly 600 million Internet users. But that is unlikely to happen any time soon while the government continues to censor media and block non state-sanctioned social media.
India is in a much different position. A less wealthy market where US companies face fewer barriers, India has courted philanthropic support rather than assuring business endeavors in its country would be successful 鈥� the expansion of Internet connectivity anywhere should be music to Silicon Valley鈥檚 ears.
But last week was a showcase for an emerging power in international relations that barely existed a few decades ago 鈥� and it will take a few more to know the full effect of its influence.