I have had a lot of faith in the Internet and belief in Cisco's
position over the last 15 years. I think any individual
organization, however, that doesn't balance confidence with a
healthy
paranoia, both during the good and bad times, isn't being
realistic.
Any organization that thinks they are infallible, or cannot suffer
the challenges that many of their peers have, is not dealing with
the world realistically. So I have always believed that how well we
do is dependent upon how well we execute, both during the good and
the challenging times.
At this point, I'd give
Cisco pretty high marks on both.
What needs to happen in the United States - and Silicon
Valley, in particular - to ensure that good, well-paying jobs are
available here? How do we stay competitive?
It's simple. It's education. It's infrastructure built on
large-scale
broadband deployment, and a government that supports
and encourages innovation.
At the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, you spoke
about the importance of productivity growth - both for companies
and countries - to create prosperity. Can you explain how
productivity is key to lifting people out of poverty?
According to the
Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor
Statistics, when productivity of a country increases at 1 percent
per year, the standard of living doubles every 70 years.
If it is driven at 3 percent, the standard of living doubles every
generation. This means that our children will have twice the
standard of living that we do. If productivity is driven at 5
percent, which I believe is attainable for many countries around
the world, the standard of living doubles every 14 years.
It has been proven that in the United States, there is a direct,
one-to-one correlation between the percentage of capital
expenditures on
information technology (IT) and productivity
increases. If you look at these correlations over time, they are
occurring on a global basis.