Clinton to Tech Innovators and Entrepreneurs: "We Want You"

Public officials swinging by Silicon Valley usually are on the prowl for precious campaign dollars. But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a point of stopping by the Bay Area to ask for something completely different: the tech world's energy and expertise.

"The new communication tools that you and I use as a matter of course are helping to connect and empower civil society leaders, democracy activists, and everyday citizens," Sec Clinton said in a speech at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club. "We need your help."You might have heard how, over the past couple of years, the State Department has been reaching out to the tech world for help with their diplomatic and development goals, particularly through delegations of tech innovators and entrepreneurs to places like Iraq, Russia, and Mexico, where they've explored how the Internet, mobile phones, and other tech tools can be used to build democracy and combat violence. The initiatives have apparently been working so well that Clinton carved time out of her globe-trotting schedule to make a public speech—only her third since becoming the country's top diplomat—to implore the Bay Area's innovators to join the State Department's efforts. "Whether you care about Haiti ... violence in Mexico from the drug cartels ... national treasures in Iraq," Sec Clinton said, "we want you to know there's a place for you."