IDF 2008: Opening Keynote Speech Criticizes U.S. Government

It seems Intel Chairmen of the Board, Craig Barrett has ruffled a few feathers with his keynote speech at IDF.

This years IDF is missing a couple of big players, namely, CEO Paul Otellini and Vice President Sean Maloney. Fortune reports that Otellini is on vacation, taking the remaining four weeks of an eight week sabbatical employees are entitled to for seven years of service to the company while Maloney (often considered to be next in line for Otellini’s position) is at the Olympics in Beijing.

The absence of either of these figures is a testament to the corporate strength of Intel. That two of the company’s top dogs can go on holiday or attend the Olympics during what is arguably one of the most important weeks of the year for Intel and not compromise the event at all is quite impressive. This year’s opening keynote was instead given by Craig Barrett, Chairman of the Board with some interesting results.

Barrett discussed at length the need for R&D and innovation and slated the U.S. for not recognizing how important these were to the future competitiveness of the country. He explained how further developments in innovative technology could reduce the cost of health care, demoing an electronic medical records system, and pointed out how much funding was being taken up by the war in Iraq.

Mr Barret claimed that education was where it began but that the U.S. lacked in certain compartments compared to other countries, especially in maths and science.

"It all starts with education, and education is the key. Every country recognizes the importance of education, but look where the US ranks from an educational perspective. That’s because we don’t have good, certified teachers in maths and the sciences."

Look out for our full IDF coverage all this week.