High-tech trip to Baghdad gets Twitter treatment

BAGHDAD — "Breakfast time ... Lots of helicopters ... Met the president of Iraq ... Amazing palace."

Tweet by tweet, the trip to Baghdad by Jack Dorsey unfolded on the Twitter microblogging network he co-founded.

One stop Wednesday: A discussion at the U.S. Embassy with executives from other Web powerhouses such as YouTube and Google on the possible high-tech horizons in a place that still can't guarantee round-the-clock electricity and whose Internet service is lumbering at best.

Their trip to Iraq's capital, sponsored by the State Department, was billed as a way to assess the faint stirrings of Iraq's online culture and possibly inspire future Iraqi Web entrepreneurs.

"There's no question that there are a lot of challenges here ... but there are also a lot of opportunities," said Jason Liebman, chief executive officer of the how-to video site Howcast.

Also on the trip were executives from AT&T, the networking site Meetup and Blue State Digital.

The nine executives wore boardroom garb — suits and ties — at the U.S. Embassy, where they are staying. Outside the protected Green Zone, it was flak jackets and helmets.

Before leaving today, they will have met with government representatives including President Jalal Talabani, university students and representatives of private companies. They also got a tour of the newly reopened National Museum.

The Iraqi government has started a campaign to attract foreign investment, but the executives said it needs to improve its services and do a better job explaining why companies should come.

"I think it's proven that the demand will be there once the connectivity and infrastructure pieces come together," said Raanan Bar-Cohen of Automattic, best known for the blog-publishing application WordPress.

Experts estimate 5 percent of Iraqis have Web access at home and the connection speed can hark back to the dial-up days of the 1980s.

However, users can get faster connections at Internet cafes and the Web access on their cellphones.

There are concerns that the rise of social networking could be exploited as another means of contact between militant groups.

A State Department policy-planning employee who accompanied the group to Baghdad, Jared Cohen, said extremists could use such sites.

"But you know hostile actors can also convene in a coffee shop. ... The same things that you can see happening online can also happen offline," he said.