Alec Ross on Technology for Diplomacy

In Congo, e-mails and text messages are being used to warn women and children of attacking rebels nearby. In sub-Saharan Africa, text messages are instructing people how to take HIV medications. In Iran, an online video from President Obama to Iranians on their new year went viral. These are among the many projects conceived by the State Department, where the use of technology has become a diplomatic tool. Alec Ross, senior adviser for innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, is working on such projects, charged to figure out how some of the most cutting-edge technologies out of Silicon Valley and from telecommunications service providers around the globe can be used for development, to end conflict, and to foster diplomatic ties.