So, I started my career

as an inner-city school teacher and entrepreneur.

And then, like many people,

I was inspired to begin a life of public service.

And 1,298 days ago

I've begun a job as Hilary Cliton's Senior Adviser for innovation.

Not that I'm counting. (Laughter)

This has been an absolutely spectacular opportunity for me.

I hope one day to be an old man.

In my 70s and my 80s,

with my grand kids on my knee,

and telling them some of the stories

of what I did in this role and what I saw on this role,

and the lessons that I learned.

It really hasn't been a means to and end

but an end unto itself.

And what I want to do for these 15 minutes --

we'll share 5 things,

We'll share 5 things in 15 minutes that I've come to believe,

with all of my head and all of my heart

over the last 1,298 days.

The first thing is that there is a massive shift

in geopolitical power taking place right now.

Most people who talk about shifts in geopolitical power

do so on a geographic basis.

They presume shift of power from the United States and Europe

to Asia or from the Global North to the Global South.

Whether that is true or not the degree to which that is true

I will leave to other people to discuss.

What I do know with near certainty

is that in just about all 195 countries on planet Earth.

There is a significant shift in geopolitical power taking place.

And that shift in power is from hierarchies

to citizens and network citizens.

There is a massive shift in power

taking place all over the world right now

from hierarchies like government

like large medium conglomerates

to citizens and networks of citizens.

And the internet is a facilitator of this change.

And I've seen very practically

how this manifests itself in three ways.

First, it's accelerated the speed and growth of political movements.

Like the anti-SOPA movement, here in the United States

or if you think about the revolutions in the Middle East.

The internet or social media

did not make those revolutions happen,

didn't necessarily make them successful.

But it did make them bigger

and it did make them faster.

The second thing it did enriching information environments.

One thing that's much more true today than was true 1,298 days ago.

Was that the ability of a hierarchy,

whether it is a dictator or a large media conglomerate,

to control the media,

to control the information in a country,

is wildly diminished.

A dictator can no longer determine

what information you know, what media you see.

Thing three is [that] leadership structures

has been wildly disrupted.

If you think about things in the United States

like the anti-SOPA movement,

if you think about the revolutions in the Middle East --

There is nobody's face, you're gonna put on a T-shirt,

leading these movements.

There is no charismatic figure

organizing and inspiring the masses on high.

Rather the leadership structures of modern political movements

increasingly look like the internet itself,

like a web instead of a pyramid, top down in control.

Now, I see this by way of explanation, not by way of advocacy.

This is both good and bad.

It's good in that movements are increasingly citizen-centered

and less rooted in say a code personality.

It's bad in that once a revolution is over

or once a piece of online piracy legislation has been defeated --

Then what?

There is a power gap.

There is an institutional gap.

Where is Nelson Mandela?

Where is Václav Havel?

Where is the institutional basis upon which we can now govern?

And in the face of the shifting power --

the sum of it is a loss of control.

The 21st century is a terrible time to be a control freak.

(Laughter)

And the entities that are really losing that control are the hierarchies.

Now, in the face of this loss of control

a lot of countries outside the United States are pushing back.

Especially in network spaces,

especially on the internet,

and they are doing so in the name of security.

They are saying that the internet is a dark and dangerous place

with offensive content.

We the people in the white shirts, the red ties

and the pin stripe suits -- It's time for us to take over.

And they are trying to control

what ought to be a largely open space.

And they do so in the name of security.

Most people believe that security and liberty are equal and opposite.

The more you have of one the less you have of the other.

What I really believe is that each is actually dependent on the other.

Liberty without security is fragile.

Security without liberty is oppressive.

And so the key for us --

When I think about the future of the internet,

when I think about the battle of that's gonna to be fought

for next 5 years of the future of the internet

and whether it remains open

or whether it looks like a patch of intranets,

it's going to be about whether we get this balance right or not.

The third thing that I come to believe,

with all of my head and my heart,

is that we need to take the focus,

that the President has had on innovation,

as the core of our strategy for building our future economy.

And and we've got to double down on it.

And I think that other countries are ought to do the exact thing.

40% of America's GDP

come from companies that did not exist 30 years ago.

40% of America's GDP is equal

to 6 trillion dollars of annual economic activity.

And if the United States is gonna be the great economic power in 30 years,

that it has been for the last 30 years,

then we have to be able to fill up this blank slide

with logos of companies that do not exist today.

That's a good segway to the fourth thing

that I've come to believe with all of my head and all of my heart.

We need to empower women

at all segments of our economic activity.

(Applause)

Thank you.

And of our political activity --

I'll accept those claps on behalf of Secretary Clinton.

(Laughter)

Because, you know, it's her 65th birthday today --

(Applause)

and she has done so much to raise our IQ

about the importance of, not just giving lip service to

the empowerment of women in security spaces and in economic spaces,

but really digging in hard on this.

Empowering women economically and in the security domain

is not a moral issue,

it is not a fairness issue,

it is not merely a moral issue,

it is not merely a fairness issue

it is also a security issue and an economic issue.

A study by Goldman Sachs said that in the United States, here,

if we narrow barriers to full participation by women in the workforce

our GDP would increase by 9%.

And if the same happened in the Euro-zone

it would've been an increase by 14%.

Modest efforts to narrow the gap

for fuller participation by women in APEC countries

like China, like Vietnam, like South Korea

is estimated would increase the per capita earnings there by 14% by 2020.

These are big numbers.

These are what we call macroeconomically significant numbers.

And as I've traveled around the world --

I'm going on a million miles over 700,000 miles --

I don't know how many countries I've been in.

I've seen this constantly.

I've been in so many countries

where women do 2/3 of the work for 1/3 of the pay

and own less than 2 percent of the land.

And so as we all struggle with the question of economic growth

the single most economically effective approach would be

for us to create more space for women to engage

from the bottom of the ladder to the board room.

I saw this just 2 weeks ago -- I was in Pakistan

I will tell what -- it was a tough time to be there,

it was just the very brief time that I was there -- there were 2 big bombings.

14 year girl named Malala was shot in the face.

And, you know, the security environment there -- it was tough.

And the one story that gave me the most hope,

the one story that made me feel the best,

was told to me by a woman named Maria Umar.

She told me that she started a company

called the Women's Digital League.

And she said: "You know, I started this company

because I believed that women could really throw their shoulders

and be effective, value-added partners in the micro-tasking space in IT.

She said: "I now have 70 women who work for me.

Many of whom work for her in some of the most difficult places in Pakistan.

She says: " I've got clients in the United States

in the East Asia, in the United Arab Emirates."

I said: "How do you get these business?"

She goes: "I get it all through LinkedIn."

(Laughter)

It's fascinating!

So, this young woman Maria Umar

started the Women's Digital League.

She now employs 70 other women.

She sources all of her deal flow through LinkedIn.

And I just listened to this --

I am amids such a difficult security situation

all of which has been created by men.

The overwhelming number --

A ridiculous percentage of the victims of whom are women.

And I hear the story from her

and I say we are doing something wrong.

We also need to empower women in the security spaces.

In the last 20 years there's been literally

hundreds of peace treaties that have been negotiated.

A majority of which have failed.

And a backwards analysis of all these treaties

show that women make up 7% of the negotiators.

This despite the fact that women are natural peace makers

and natural community builders.

And if you just look at the evidence of what they've done

when that 7% has been given a seat, at the mahogany table,

their impact has been very distinct and very important.

Think about the Good Friday accords in Northern Ireland, in 1998.

It was women negotiators who insisted on

provisions related to reconciliation,

integration and victims rights.

And those 3 things that were pushed for

and bold through by women proved to be indispensable.

to the durability and success of the Good Friday Agreements.

And defusing what had been a horribly malignant conflict

between the Protestants and the Catholics in Northern Ireland.

So, what 2 grander challenges are there

than economic growth and security?

And from my perspective, what I've come to believe,

with all of my head and all of my heart,

is that our best approach to both,

is to get more women involved at all levels.

The fifth and final thing, that I've learned on the 1,298 days on the job.

We have to stay out of the grey twilight.

A hundred years ago the President of United States was Theodor Roosevelt.

He said something that is really -- sort of lit the path for me.

He said it is far better to dare mighty deeds

to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure,

than to rank with those poor spirits, who neither enjoy much

nor suffer much, because they dwell in the grey twilight

that knows neither victory nor defeat.

It is far better to dare mighty deeds to win glorious triumphs

even though checkered by failure