Five Things That Modiji Can Learn From Silicon Valley, That Will Help His 'Make In India' Dreams Come True

This weekend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit technology heavyweights in Silicon Valley. While he is carrying a sack of goodies for them, promising to ease processes for startups and offering tax breaks, hopefully he will also catch something of its unique spirit.

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Silicon Valley, after all, is more than the sum of the companies located there; it has become shorthand for innovation itself. It is the meritocratic, multicultural ideal. Of course, this is not the whole story ¨C the best jobs are cornered by white and Asian men, it increasingly leans libertarian rather than liberal, women only make 49 cents to a man¡¯s dollar. But still, seen from elsewhere, it is a province of geeky creativity and world-changing ambition channelled towards enormous profit. In Bengaluru, Tel Aviv, Shanghai and Dublin, everyone¡¯s trying to bottle the magic.

So what goes into the Silicon Valley state of mind? Let us try to isolate the elements.

#1 Individual freedom needs to addressed

First, it owes its energy to the progressive forces of immigration and self-invention. California magnifies the American self-image as a nation of strivers determined to make over their lives. Apart from its indigenous population, California has been settled by waves of newcomers from the Gold Rush onwards. Latinos, Chinese and European immigrants have long been part of the mix, and demographic patterns continue to shift. Since 2000, minorities have made up the majority of the population. What this broadly means is that it is hospitable to new ideas, where trust is based on performance rather than on social standing.

India too, is all shook up; made up of layers of migrations and settlements, invasions and accommodations. But that sense of individual freedom and mobility is sorely missing. To see the strength in our differences, and to even opportunities despite them, is Modi¡¯s first challenge. Given his loyalty to the RSS, an ideology that seeks to subsume all difference under the banner of asyndicated Hinduism, it won¡¯t be easy.

#2 Tolerance is the need of the hour

Second, what sets Silicon Valley apart is its spirit of insubordination and creativity. The corporation and the counterculture have melded in the company cultures of Google, Apple and others. Silicon Valley rests in the middle of larger concentric circles, namely the Bay Area and California, which have historically been home to all kinds of dissidents, poets, union organisers, druggies, foodies and eccentrics. Activist movements for environmentalism, feminism and queer rights sprouted in its fertile soil.

Some of that social and cultural pollen has fallen upon Silicon Valley¡¯s companies too, as is clear from their incessant talk of disruption and revolution, their zany workplaces, and their extra-curricular interests. As Steve Jobs put it, it is ¡°technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the results that make our hearts sing¡±. The reason that no competitor has managed to recreate Silicon Valley is because they lack this rich concentrate of engineering and design and commerce, and the larger environment that tolerates difference.

#3 Attract the 'creative class'

Richard Florida, scholar of urban studies and economic competitiveness, has argued that there is a ¡°creative class¡± that spurs growth, and that cities should do their best to bring them in. The values that matter to them are individuality, meritocracy and diversity. According to Florida, top talent and technology are drawn to places that show tolerance. The more such clusters grow, the more the productivity and knowledge spillovers. Silicon Valley and its environs are a prime example of such a hub.

#4 Social freedoms shouldn't be squelched

While Indian companies have adopted that talk and flexible workstyles, India itself could use more of that liberal substance. Even in cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai, social freedoms are casually squelched. In an environment of sedition laws and censorship and random bans, where the bounds of romance are patrolled, where ministers advise women to stay home and claim that Muslims can ¡°also¡± occasionally be nationalists, where NGOs are chiefly seen as nuisances, where killing the internet is seen as the easiest solution to law-and-order problems, it seems like a very remote aspiration. Prime Minister Modi may not be solely responsible for this intolerance, but it is a cast of mind that he has not visibly defied, either.

#5 Provide the right ecosystem

The third thing that sustains Silicon Valley is easier for India to replicate ¨C the ecosystem. Though we make much of its lone geniuses and entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley became a hi-tech region because of institutional design and some happenstance. Hewlett Packard, the first company in the Valley owes its origins to the military, as well as to Stanford University. The synergies between the government, universities and firms caused that explosion of innovation, particularly between 1985 and 2000. Even now, if companies formed by Stanford alumni were to become a single nation, it would be the tenth biggest economy in the world.

Germany, Canada, Chile and others have tried to emulate Silicon Valley¡¯s entrepreneurial ecosystem; India has also tried to link campuses and companies. Higher education and skills are the fundamentals for any nation that aspires to innovation, and here¡¯s where Modi must absolutely not falter. Unfortunately, so far, the news from our universities is about the erosion of their autonomy and unsuitable political appointees.

So to sum up, Silicon Valley has useful lessons to offer Modi, quite apart from investment. Monochrome is boring. There are visible returns to be had from an open, diverse society, and in the freedom to disagree.

(Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author's own | The article has been slightly reworked, with pointers and images added, which may make it slightly different in appearance from the blog originally published in The Times Of India)