Padmasree Warrior on “innovation for country transformation”

Padmasree Warrior, chief technology officer of Cisco and member of the U.S. State Department Innovation Delegation to Russia, recently commented on her February visit to Russia and discussed how social media and other innovative technologies can help broaden U.S.-Russia ties:

During the weeklong trip through Moscow and Novorsibirsk, Siberia, my fellow delegates and I engaged in conversations with a wide variety of groups across Russia. Our itinerary spanned sessions with government officials, non-governmental organizations, business leaders from the private sector, entrepreneurs, start-ups, academics, university students and high-school students. The days were packed with activity and the intellectual rapport was exciting.

Padmasree Warrior highlighted the relevancy of the visit to her work at Cisco, noting that “as a company, we strongly believe that technology and innovation drive country transformation” and that “the mission of the ‘Cisco Emerging Countries Council’ is to drive the transformation and acceleration of opportunities in these markets by cross-functional, in-theater and in-country collaboration.”

Warrior noted that a follow-up session took place via Cisco Telepresence, which connected members of the U.S. and Russian government and senior executives of leading U.S. and Russian corporations.