On Thursday, Santa Clara University will host the Silicon Valley Challenge Summit, which will address UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's challenge to the region to "broaden its horizon and bring more of its remarkable dynamism and innovation to the developing world."

There is an impressive list of speakers (see list at end) including a keynote by Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel. I spoke with Paul Braund, head of the RiOS Institute, an organization that is "dedicated to harnessing design innovation and anthropological research as tools to improve social and technological development projects."

"The goal of the summit is to get everybody under one tent and figure out what Silicon Valley is doing to help fulfill the UN's goals," said Paul Braund. He said that the RiOS institute can direct tech and other resources in ways that will better target helping the developing world. Sometimes well meaning resources are not utilized in the best ways.

One example is the one laptop per child initiative. Mr Braund is a strong supporter of that initiative yet sometimes more basic things such as getting electricity to villages has to come first.

Mr Braund is very much encouraged by Craig Barrett's involvement in this initiative and also the strong support demonstrated by many other Silicon Valley business and technology leaders. And he hopes that the dialogue on this topic will continue to grow following the summit.

But I'm not sure about that. The reason is that Silicon Valley cannot help the poor in its own backyard.

The public school system is a glaring example of Silicon Valley's failure to make a difference. Silicon Valley companies have been touting the benefits of their technologies for years, the collaborative tools, the distance learning, the computer communications technologies, the productivity apps, etc. etc.

Yet look at the SF/Bay Area public schools. Most are a mess. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, told me last year that the public school system is broken and can't be fixed. "We tried," he said. Well, Cisco didn't try hard enough. Cisco can crow about building a high-tech baseball park in Fremont. How about a high-tech school system for a fraction of that cost?

Silicon Valley's schools should all be showcases - not basket cases.

Let's see how Silicon Valley companies do here locally, along with how they go about helping the world's poor. Or is the summit (and the Tech Awards today) mostly all about local luminaries saying all the right things but little getting done?

Here's Bill Coleman, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founder, chairman, and CEO, Cassatt Corporation.

"I believe that the innovation and entrepreneurship that made Silicon Valley the birthplace of the Information Revolution can and should be part of the solution to sustainable global development. This Summit is our opportunity to join with the global organizations that are leading the charge by leveraging our considerable skills and experience. I urge all of the Valley Leaders to come forward to help us work for a better future."

Related Links:

• Silicon Valley Challenge Summit: http://www.scu.edu/sts/Events/rios/
• RiOS Institute: http://www.riosinstitute.org/
• RiOS’ Silicon Valley Challenge Summit Blog: http://siliconvalleychallenge.blogspot.com
• Nextbillion.net interview with Paul Braund: http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/11/09/paul-braund-interview-the-business-of-technology-and-development

Summit Speakers:

• Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director of Community Affairs, Microsoft Corporation

• Craig R. Barrett, Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation and Chairman, Global Alliance for ICT and Development, United Nations

• Geoffrey C. Bowker, Regis and Dianne McKenna Professor and Executive Director, Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Santa Clara University

• Paul Braund, Executive Director, RiOS Institute

• Eric Brewer, Director for Intel Research and Director, Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions (TIER) Program, University of California, Berkeley

• Eric Carlson, Associate Director, CSTS Global Social Benefit Incubator and Faculty, Entrepreneur Leadership Program, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

• Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Chair Professor of Communication Technology and Society, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California

• Bill Coleman, Chairman, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Cassatt Corporation

• William H. Davidow, Founding Partner, MDV (Mohr Davidow Ventures)

• James R. Fruchterman, Founder and CEO, The Benetech Initiative

• Allen L. Hammond, Vice President for Innovation and Special Projects, World Resources Institute

• Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development, United Nations

• James L. Koch, Executive Director, CSTS Global Social Benefit Incubator, Santa Clara University

• Paul Locatelli, S.J., President of Santa Clara University

• James C. Morgan, Chairman, Applied Materials, Inc.

• Paul Mountford, President, Emerging Markets, Cisco Systems Ltd.

• Djordjija Petkoski, Lead Specialist, Business, Competitiveness, and Development Group, World Bank Institute

• Paul Saffo, Director and Roy Amara Fellow, Institute for the Future

• AnnaLee Saxenian, Dean and Professor, School of Information and Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley

• Anke Schwittay, Director of Research, RiOS Institute

• Dan Shine, Director, 50x15 Program, Advanced Micro Devices

• Bess Stephens, Vice President, Corporate Philanthropy, Hewlett-Packard Company

Additionally, we are pleased to have confirmed the participation of other notable luminaries

In advance of you conversation with Paul Braund, following are some useful links to provide you with information about RiOS and the Silicon Valley Challenge Summit.