Gorbachev: IT could learn from Pope John Paul II

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April 12, 2005 (IDG News Service) -- BOSTON -- The IT industry could learn a lesson from the late Pope John Paul II and realize that technology is key to helping people out of poverty, saving resources and labor, and developing the planet in a better way, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said today.
Earning profits and beating the competition shouldn't be the sole goals of advancing technology, Gorbachev said in a keynote address at a meeting of the Massachusetts Software Council in Boston. Advocating John Paul II's view that the rich have an obligation to help the poor, Gorbachev called on IT and on U.S. leaders to develop partnerships with other nations, including Russia, and to stop being fearful that IT in other countries will make inroads and offer stiff competition.
"Let us think not only about maximizing profits; let us think about the benefits for the future; let us think about future generations," Gorbachev said through a translator. Gorbachev's 45-minute speech was laced with humor and wide-ranging references. He spoke of his relationship with former U.S. President Reagan, the policies of current Russian President Vladimir Putin, and of perestroika, Gorbachev's economic, political and social restructuring program that was ultimately "interrupted" by a "cowboy" approach to the fledgling free-market economy, he said.
Gorbachev, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, founded the environmental organization Green Cross International in 1993, a year after he became president of the Gorbachev Foundation, which also is known as the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

He was Soviet president when the Cold War ended, and his policies ultimately led to the end of Communist Party dominance and to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which broke into independent states. He touched on the civil unrest and chaos attendant with those changes, but he said that Russia continues to make great strides toward democracy and freedom for its citizens, as well as with its economy.
While the U.S. and Russia have developed a friendlier relationship in recent years, the U.S. still has some fears of Russia linked to the militaristic philosophy of the Cold War era, he said. U.S. industry and government also tend to consider Russia inferior, leading to inequitable partnerships, Gorbachev added. Throughout his speech, Gorbachev advocated partnerships between governments and companies, including those in the IT sector, from both nations.
"We should say farewell to that outdated [militaristic Cold War] philosophy. We should be looking at ways to work together," he said. However, the U.S. must allow Russia and its companies to have equal footing.
"Russia will not accept a position of junior partner," he said. "The partnership must be equal."

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