I spent a better part of yesterday in Palo Alto for a TechNet-arranged pow-wow with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and about 20 Silicon Valley heavy hitters. (My photo above includes, from left to right, Brian Halla, National Semiconductor CEO, John Chambers, Cisco CEO and Chairman, Foreign Minister Downer, Secretary Rice, Floyd Kvamme of Kleiner Perkins and Lezlee Westine, TechNet's CEO.)
Rice said her visit was designed to help understand what's happening in the most exciting area of the country for technology innovation, with an eye toward maintaining America's global competitiveness.
"We've also been very interested in new technologies for the new green revolution." Such technologies will eventually help "wean ourselves from hydrocarbons...and help us be good stewards of the environment."
The Bay Area swing was not all business-free. During a series of meetings with Silicon Valley executives, and a tour of Hewlett-Packard Labs in Palo Alto, she focused on the valley's role in keeping America's edge in global competitiveness and the need to encourage more students to pursue math and science degrees.
In the interview, she said she was surprised to learn the number of engineering graduates had dropped, calling it "a bad sign," and she was dismayed at the findings in a new report issued earlier this week that an exodus of college graduates from the state could lead to a large brain gap.
Several valley executives told her the current immigration compromise hammered out between White House and Senate leaders did not go far enough to ensure a skilled workforce, prompting Rice to say "I did hear them and will take those concerns back" to the White House.
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