Dr James Gibbons
Former Dean of the School of Engineering, Stanford University
In October 2008, the US Studies Centre and the Department of State and Regional Development co-sponsored a US Business Leadership luncheon with special guest speaker Dr James Gibbons.
Dr Gibbons is the former Dean of the Stanford University School of Engineering, former Vice Chairman of Xerox PARC, and former Director of Cisco Systems. During the lunchtime event Dr Gibbons discussed the core features of "the Silicon Valley model", including interpersonal networks and other features of the valley's "social infrastructure. He then analyzed efforts to replicate Silicon Valley in Taiwan, Israel and now China. Steve Harker, CEO of Morgan Stanley in Australia and Chairman of the NSW Innovation Council responded by assessing the prospects for Silicon Valley-style radical innovation in the state and around Australia.
