Tony Blair visits with execs in Silicon Valley

"I’m here today in listening mode ... as long as you treat me as ignorant,” Blair said to chief executives, scientists and other technocrats who engaged him in a question-and-answer session that lasted about an hour.

Blair’s company during the visit — the Bay Area’s first by a sitting British prime minister — included Cisco president and CEO John Chambers; Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs; and Internet pioneer and Google Inc. vice president Vinton Cerf.

Calling Silicon Valley "one of the most dynamic areas in the world,” Blair peppered executives with questions about how the region’s educational and corporate cultures fostered entrepreneurism.

Chambers, who met Blair seven years ago and helped organize the two-hour trade mission to Cisco, said they also discussed climate control, the state of public education and how industrialized nations such as the United States and England can effectively compete against low-cost countries such as India and China.

Chambers also emphasized that the United Kingdom was the company’s largest market outside of the United States, and it was critical to show British officials Cisco’s newest network gear.

Blair smiled when approached by a plodding robot that allows doctors to consult with patients in remote areas through a broadband wireless connection. Cisco’s "Health Robot,” currently is being tested at five hospitals worldwide.

"The prime minister is not a technologist but someone who understands how technology can improve the economy, create jobs and improve the standard of living,” Chambers said.

After the visit, Blair continued on to Pebble Beach, where he was scheduled to address a meeting of News Corp. executives at an upscale resort, reportedly attended by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres.

In his speech to executives, Blair said he and President Bush hoped to revive in the next few weeks deadlocked World Trade Organization talks over the aim of lifting millions around the world out of poverty by lowering trade barriers across all sectors. The evening event was closed to the media.

His wide-ranging speech also touched on topics as diverse as Britain’s DNA databank and health care system to Europe’s welfare state and the crisis in the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Blair visited a San Francisco rehabilitation center, accompanied by Mayor Gavin Newsom and former Secretary of State George Schultz.

During the tour of the Delancey Street center, which accepts substance abusers, ex-convicts and former prostitutes to live and work in a self-sufficient community, he spoke with the leaders and residents about the center’s innovative program.

"I’ve seen something ... that’s got a lesson in it for all countries, including mine,” Blair said of the center. "All of us need to change our lives from time to time.”<