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Oxford takes the big debate to Silicon Valley: Problems too much for you?

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

June 17, 2012 | 4 min read

The prestigious Oxford Union debates are coming to Silicon Valley next week - and the subject is a challenging one in the world hotbed of enterpreneurship : "This House believes that the problems of tomorrow are too big for the entrepreneurs of today."

Oxford comes to Silicon Valley

The idea for the debate comes from Michael Malone, an author who's written extensively about the valley.

Malone has been working on building ties between Oxford and the valley for years, says the San Jose Mercury News. He's arranged for groups of valley executives to visit and teach at the 900-plus-year-old university; he's brought business students from Oxford to the valley for a "boots on the ground" entrepreneurial education. Bringing the debates to the valley seemed the next logical step.

"If we do this right," Malone says, "it will be very thoughtful and it will also be a hell of a lot of fun."

The first-ever Oxford debate in Silicon Valley is on Tuesday at Santa Clara University. It being hosted by the Churchill Club, which last year celebrated its 25th anniversary. The club got its name from Winston Churchill.

The Oxford Union, 189 years old, got the podiums it uses from Winston Churchill. He gave the union the podiums,( known as "despatch boxes" in the British debate world, explains the Mercury News) during a break from plotting the demise of the Nazis.

The despatch boxes and the president-elect of the Oxford Union will be at the Santa Clara debate just to keep things official, says the paper.

Joe DiNucci, an executive coach and former SGI executive, worked with Malone to arrange the debate. Business leaders from PARC, Nanosolar, Marvell, Coulomb Technologies and Daemonic Labs will take part.

Sure, the night is going to be fun, he says, but it's also going to be an opportunity for some in the valley to think in ways they so far haven't. Some think the next big problem is building a social networking platform that attracts 1.5 billion, rather than Facebook's 900 million or so. That's not a big problem.

"A big problem is we're running out of fossil fuels and demand is increasing," says DiNucci, whose team will support the proposition and take on Malone's team in the debate.

"Another big problem is poverty. We are producing enough food to feed everybody on the planet, but millions are starving."

DiNucci and his team will argue that entrepreneurs alone can't tackle problems of that scope. They need government's help. Malone and his group will say entrepreneurs are up to the task and have an impressive track record to prove it.

"It's hard to believe that anybody who lives in Silicon Valley and believes in Silicon Valley could actually come out and profess that entrepreneurs aren't up to the challenges of the future," says Malone.

The idea of all wearing Hawaiian shirts for the debate was dropped. Instead they'll stick with tuxes .

The Mercury News points out that, at Oxford, those attending the debate leave through one of two doors -- the "aye" door if they agree with the proposition or the "nay" door if they disagree. The winner is which door gets more traffic.

At Santa Clara, organizers will rely on TwitPolls, which polls Twitterusers and compiles responses. Churchill CEO Karen Tucker said, "I see it absolutely being an annual event."

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