Thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning at the Infopoverty World Conference. Greetings also to our friends in Milan who we join via video-conference.

It is quite an honor to join this group and discuss with you some of the innovative perspectives that the Bush Administration is taking as we look to encourage global growth and prosperity and focus on the crucial role that technology will play.

Today, I'd like to share with you some thoughts on:

• how technology contributes to economic growth and development ;

• the challenge we all share to promote these benefits as widely as possible; and

• two specific Bush Administration efforts that represent new thinking, new partnerships and an exciting new mix of opportunities.

Technology - The Promise and the Challenge

There is no doubt that technology and innovation are critical foundations of economic growth and development.

We've witnessed this fact in the U.S. and continue to see the impact of technology on our economy and global competitiveness:

• Technology is a powerful job creator. The job growth we saw in the tech sector in the 1990s was astonishing, unprecedented and (as we learned) unsustainable. However, the fact remains that innovation drives development and growth, and this translates to jobs. Over half of this country's economic growth in the last 50 years has been related to technology. The wave that was driven by IT and the Internet was powerful, but the next wave that will be driven by biotechnology, nanotechnology, genomics and other advances will emerge and it will create jobs and prosperity for those who are ready.

• Technology is making us more productive. IT products and IT-producing industries have contributed roughly two-thirds of the extraordinary American productivity growth that appeared in the latter half of the 1990s (ESA, Federal Reserve ). And it's worth noting that this productivity growth endures, post-bubble, post-9/11, and post-Enron-WorldCom. During the economic downturn of 2001, productivity growth remained robust at over 2%, and grew by 4.8% in 2002 (BLS).

• Technology boosts economic output. Take information technology. While IT-producing industries represent only 7% of all businesses in the U.S., they accounted for roughly 28% of overall real economic growth between 1996-2000 (ESA ). While this number has likely gone down, IT industries continue to contribute more than their share to our economy. This also has great impact at the local level.

• Technology likewise drives exports. Technology exports accounted for 29% of all U.S. exports in 2000 (American Electronics Assn. ) and for many U.S. technology companies, over 50% of their revenues come from overseas. This can have an impact at the state level as well - in New Mexico, high tech exports accounted for 86% of the State's total in 2000.

As we look to the future and engage in our truly globally-connected world our challenge is to work towards a world where technology's benefits are shared by as many as possible. This challenge is daunting, and finding solutions will require more than just wiring villages, providing technical support and speaking about inclusion. We must seek solutions that rest on sound policy, deliver real results and promote real partnerships. And we must align our efforts with the understanding that technology-led growth in the developing world truly has benefits in a global context.

I had the pleasure of hearing Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett Packard speak on this topic earlier this year. She make the observation that, right now, Hewlett Packard's products can only reach about 10% of the world's population. Of course, she, as the CEO of a major global corporation, is motivated to increase sales of her company's products around the world. What if that number grew to 12%, or 15%, or even 20% over the next 10 years? This view has motivated companies like HP - and many others like IBM, Cisco and Intel to name a just a few - to focus a tremendous amount of energy on promoting the role of technology in creating growth, innovation and entrepreneurship around the world. This dynamic is one reason we, at the U.S. Department of Commerce, are engaged in efforts like the Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI) which I'll speak about shortly. Open markets and the power of technology inspire innovators and entrepreneurs around the world - from Silicon Valley to rural villages in Senegal - to seek each other out. They look to build partnerships and find opportunities. We, as government leaders, can do much to fuel this dynamic. I'd like to tell you about two ways the United States is contributing to this effort - The Millennium Challenge Account and the Digital Freedom Initiative.

The Millennium Challenge Account

Last Spring, President Bush called for "a new compact for global development", linking greater contributions from developed nations to greater responsibility from developing nations.

To further solidify his commitment, President Bush pledged the U.S. would increase its core development assistance by 50% percent over three years, resulting in an annual increase of $5 billion by FY 2006.

The MCA recognizes that to meet the challenges of global development - roughly 1.2 billion people living on less than $1 per day; over 800 million malnourished and a world population expected to grow by another 2 billion by 2030 - growth is essential. We have learned from experience, however, that growth only comes when local policies and conditions are right.

To maximize the long-term benefits of the MCA's financial commitments and achieve self-sustaining results, the President announced that the MCA will be "devoted to projects in nations that govern justly, invest in their people and encourage economic freedom."

MCA partner countries are challenged to create the conditions for economic growth, raise productivity and integrate into the global economy.

The MCA will rest on a number of principles learned over the years about development:

• Focus on Growth: Unlike current programs with numerous objectives, MCA will aim specifically to promote growth through investments in areas such as agriculture, education, private sector development, governance, health and capacity building.

• Select Only Countries Ready to Grow: We will select only those countries that perform better than their peers on independent indicators that measure their performance in governing justly, investing in the health and education of citizens, and encouraging economic freedom.

• Genuine Partnership: Working closely with the MCA, countries would be responsible for identifying the greatest barriers to their own development, ensuring civil society participation, and developing an MCA program.

• Business Approach: MCA participation would require a high level commitment and a public agreement (contract), which would identify a limited number of measurable goals and include a timeframe, benchmarks, baseline information, a financial oversight plan, evaluation, a continuing commitment to the original qualifying criteria, and how to sustain goals at contract end.

While none of these elements is completely new, this would be the first time to pull them all together.

The Digital Freedom Initiative

In March, 2003 Commerce Secretary was joined by USAID Administrator Natsios, Peace Corps Director Vasquez, USA FreedomCorps Director Bridgeland as well as HP CEO Carly Fiorina and Cisco Chairman John Morgridge to launch the Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI).

The DFI is being piloted in Senegal, and, if successful, could be rolled out to 20 countries in the next five years.

The DFI has three key elements. These are:

• Placing volunteers in small businesses to share business knowledge and technology expertise;

• Promoting pro-growth regulatory and legal structures to enhance business competitiveness; and

• Leveraging existing technology and communications infrastructure in new ways to help entrepreneurs and small businesses better compete in both the regional and global market place.

As is the case with the MCA, these elements are not necessarily new. But, pulling them together in a focused way, seeking specific results in specific settings and building out multiple, complimentary partnerships is a new model that allows the DFI to seek innovative objectives.

I'd like to focus on these partnerships, because they are at the heart of this initiative. The DFI has established strong and unprecedented partnerships at three levels that all work together:

• U.S. Government partnerships - the U.S. government has a vast array of resources that have been directed towards international development, largely in isolation from one another. Under the DFI model the understanding of the private sector that the Commerce Department brings is matched with the specific development expertise of USAID and the policy knowledge of the State Department. When you add the human interaction of the Peace Corps and the volunteer spirit of USA FreedomCorps you have tremendous platform upon which to build specific initiatives.

• Public/Private Partnerships - The real strength of the DFI is the insight, energy and efforts of many private sector partners supporting the program. Right now, the DFI has built a Business Roundtable of about 40 active private sector participants. These companies and organizations range in size and specialty, but they all provide technological expertise, understand the capacity technology has to catalyze growth and have committed to share their knowledge and ability with entrepreneurs and SMEs in partner countries.

• Partnerships with Partner Country Governments - The Government of Senegal has been tremendously supportive of the DFI, viewing it as an affirmation and accelerator of its efforts to improve the regulatory environment and focus on economic growth through market-based policies. Two Senegalese Ministers in addition to the Senegalese Ambassador to the U.S. participated in the White House launch and President Wade provided a videotaped message. Senegal has committed to pursue a pro-growth policy and regulatory environment and the DFI has committed to provide support and guidance for their decisions and priorities.

The Bush Administration is very committed to the principles and objectives of the Millennium Challenge Account and the Digital Freedom Initiative. President Bush clearly stated his goal in launching the MCA, "[T]o provide people in developing nations the tools they need to seize the opportunities of the global economy." In launching the DFI, Commerce Secretary Evans spoke of its potential "give small businesses and entrepreneurs the tools they need to create wealth, access capital and enter new markets." These goals and objectives are shared throughout the U.S. government and clearly articulated by all of the leaders here today. It is a commitment and objective that we actively pursue and we look forward to further collaboration.

Thank you again for the opportunity to join this important discussion today. I look forward to building closer relationships, establishing greater collaboration and expanding the effort to make the promise of technology a reality every country around the world.