The State Department’s Tech.Del: Can People Power Crush Mexico’s Drug Cartels? | techPresident
The United States has tried a variety of tactics in its effort to confront the drug-fueled violence and instability that plagues the U.S.-Mexico border. Diplomacy with political leaders. The equipping of local law enforcement with helicopters and other aircraft. Direct cash transfers to the Mexican government. And now, add to that list Facebook? Yep. A State Department “tech.del,” or technology delegation, has been in Mexico this week exploring how U.S. tech companies can support people-to-people resistance against Mexico’s destructive drug cartels. On the State Department’s DipNote blog, public diplomacy advisor Suzanne Hall says the purpose of the trip is determine how America’s technology can “help Mexican citizens amplify their voices against narco-violence.”Traveling on the State Department delegation to Mexico are
representatives from major U.S. companies like Google, Facebook,
Microsoft, and AT&T, as well as from smaller American firms like
Adfero, a DC-based public relations firm; the Democratic consulting
shop Liberty Concepts; and FastFoward Groups. Academic representatives
from MIT’s Media Lab also made the trip.
