|
Paul Russo, Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman,
Silicon Optix Inc., USA
1) Briefly tell us what it is about your company/project that makes it so special?
Silicon Optix is focused on taking digital video to a software platform. Two of the three largest consumers of semiconductor devices are already based on processors (PC’s, cell phones). Today’s video world is in transition from analog to digital, but we have the only IC’s that can execute one trillion (million-million) operations/second, thus enabling pixel-by-pixel processing of digital video. Combined with our world’s highest image quality algorithms and our geometry processing, we want to create a new wave in the digital video revolution.
2) What country best facilitates starting a tech company? What single thing can a government do to encourage Technology Pioneers?
Today, the US represents the best environment for start-ups, and within the US, California offers a unique environment (at least in the IT area) with an abundance of experienced venture capital, legal and accounting infrastructure and many serial entrepreneurs willing to serve on boards and fund early stage companies. The region is also tolerant of failure and expects people who are down, to get up and try again. Re the single thing governments could do: Reduce social/termination costs and bureaucracy to ensure corporate nimbleness and efficient reallocation of capital. This is a big problem in parts of Europe.
3) What makes an innovator?
Someone thinking of new paradigms, of new ways of doing things better or doing entirely new things. This needs to be combined with entrepreneurship to create successful start-ups.
4) How does your company directly contribute to improving the state of the world?
We hope that our company will do much more than just bring better video quality to the world. We are working towards seeing how our technologies can also make video communication more pervasive – and since a picture is worth a thousand words, this can help achieve better understandings between nations and cultures. Our technologies can also be employed to accelerate surveillance/security systems, for thinks like image recognition, object tracking and motion detection. This may result in a safer world for all.
5) What value do you hope to gain from being a Technology Pioneer?
Interact with industrial and government leaders. Get a better understanding of the major issues facing our world and ways we can begin dealing with them. In addition, learn from them and expose them to our initiatives, perhaps increasing partnership opportunities.
6) What do you think the role of technology should be in society?
Very simply, to improve the standard of living and the quality of life for everyone.
7) What is the right balance in society between scientific interest and ethical concerns?
A very delicate issues that will elicit different responses from different cultures. Individuals’ security and well being as well as their privacy and freedom must be maintained in any circumstance. Scientific interest can help achieve and then maintain these goals. However, sometimes there must be a balance between individual issues and the common good of a nation or of the world.
|
