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Posted in: Newsroom (http://www.bayareacouncil.org/news/2010/09/12/san-jose-mercury-news-plans-unveiled-for-bid-to-put-world-expo-2020-at-moffett-field/)

While still barely a gleam in the governor’s eye, plans to try to bring the World Expo 2020 to Silicon Valley inched forward Saturday, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger formally announced his bid during a visit to the Shanghai World Expo and identified Moffett Field as the host site.

“Shanghai has demonstrated that when you host the World Expo, the world comes to you, and I want the world to come to California,” Schwarzenegger reportedly said before touring the U.S. pavilion. “Our state is a leader in entertainment, agriculture, the environment, high tech, green tech and biotech, and we are ready to showcase our innovation to the world.”

Joined by Jim Wunderman, head of the Bay Area Council who first proposed the idea and has been spearheading the effort, Schwarzenegger called Silicon Valley “the hub of innovation” and said it was “the most natural place to hold the expo, which will promote the international exchange of ideas, create jobs and increase revenues in our state,” according to an advance release.

Typically held every five years, world expos can bring tens of millions of visitors to see hundreds of pavilions hosted by countries and individual corporations. Once described as a platform for “nation branding,” an expo can also cost a ton of money — the council said the Chinese government spent $4.2 billion on the Shanghai event, although much of that went to major improvements to the city’s highways and transit infrastructure.

Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network’s board of directors unanimously voted Friday to join the Bay Area Council in its push to bring the 2020 World Expo to Moffett Field.

Caveats to the motion included that the event be carbon neutral and that Joint Venture stay involved should the bid be accepted, said the group's CEO, Russell Hancock.

The massive public exhibition — sanctioned by The Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) — is held every five years in different parts of the world, with Shanghai being the 2010 destination. The last expo held in the United States was in 1984 in New Orleans, and Expo 2015 is slated for Milan, with a food theme.

Potential themes for Silicon Valley include space, sustainability and innovation.
Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman said Moffett’s runways would temporarily be transformed into the main Expo grounds. The event has the potential to add $6.1 billion to the local economy, 25 million visitors, 45,700 new jobs, and $0.5 billion in tax revenue, according to a February 2011 study by Beacon Economics.

“This is a big opportunity to put Silicon Valley at the center of the world,” Wunderman said.

Much like the Bay Area Council, which brings together business leaders to help solve local challenges, the nonprofit Joint Venture provides analysis and action on issues affecting the Silicon Valley economy and quality of life. Hancock committed to providing about 10 percent of his time to the 2020 World Expo effort.

In order to move forward, the United States first needs to pay about $30,000 in dues to rejoin the BIE, which it dropped out of a few years ago when expositions went out of favor, Wunderman said. The United States faces potential competition in the 2020 bidding process so far from Turkey and Thailand.

The first of the candidates submitting bids to present starts in May 2011, with the Expo awarded in January 2013, Wunderman said. The United States is prohibited from putting public money into a foreign expo, so a nonprofit would be formed to fundraise and submit the bid itself, which costs $5 million to $7 million.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said he is in support of the economic benefit to the city and of possibly fast tracking spending on infrastructure such as high speed rail or BART to accommodate the Expo’s visitors. The event is expected to generate $557 million of spending in San Jose alone.

“By and large it would be good for the city of San Jose, but not good enough that I’m going to write a check for $100 million,” Reed said.

Neither Sunnyvale or Mountain View have taken an official position on the matter, though economic development leaders from both cities have been involved in the planning process. Mountain View-based Google Inc., which owns some of the proposed site for the Expo, is on board with the project as long as infrastructure created for the event matches its long-term plans, Wunderman said.


Read more: Joint Venture joins World Expo push | Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2011/03/11/joint-venture-joins-world-expo-push.html)

You guys can read the entire proposal on this PDF file: http://www.jointventure.org/images/stories/pdf/expo.2020.economic.impact.report.pdf

In the midst of receiving correspondence from Australian Foreign Minister Rudd regarding an Australian Exposition for 2020, it is interesting to note the Californian Government proposal for Silicon Valley Expo 2020 has just launched it's website and Facebook page.

The slick website, which is well thought out, and includes official documents such as Governor Schwarzenegger's letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton urging her to consider the USA's membership of the Bureau of International Expositions, as well as a mock supporters letter in .doc format to same for interested citizens to fill in the blanks and send themselves.

The website address is:

http://www.expo2020siliconvalley.com

The Facebook page is at:

http://www.facebook.com/WorldExpo2020/

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The proposed site for the 2020 Silicon Valley, USA World Expo is the NASA Ames airfield at Moffett Field. An Expo at the more than 1000 acre site would keep many buildings intact, rehabilitate others, build some new memorable permanent structures, and temporarily transform the runways into the main Expo grounds.

The site is served by three international airports, abundant public transit and other means of transportation including three freeways. Numerous already-planned public transit improvements – ferries, light rail, passenger rail, buses and experimental modes like Personal Rapid Transit pods – could accommodate global visitors to Moffett Field.

The legacy improvements to area necessary for the Expo correspond very well with the existing plans of the cities, companies and, indeed the region.

World Expos are about creating visions of the future and many of the companies, universities and research facilities that are fueling our connected globalized civilization are on the site, abut the site or can be seen with the naked eye from the proposed Expo site.

http://www.2020worldsfair.com/expo2020site.html

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Sep 22, 2010
By Martin Cheek (http://sct.temple.edu/blogs/ispr/2010/09/23/telepresence-could-unite-the-world-at-2020-expo/)

At the Shanghai World Expo this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the Bay Area’s bid to make Moffett Field the site of the 2020 World Expo. If we do get the go-ahead to put on this massive fair showcasing science, technology and industry, I say let’s do it Silicon Valley style. Let’s connect the world using the telepresence technology developed at the very location where the Silicon Valley World Expo might take place in a decade.

NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field does some of the world’s most advanced research in virtual reality. With this science fiction-like technology, you strap on peripheral equipment and step into a computer-generated world limited only by a designer’s imagination. Beyond videogames and entertainment, virtual reality provides a far more practical application called telepresence. This mind-blowing computer system lets you “travel” via digital networks to other locations on our planet. Ames Research Center’s tech wizards are even developing telepresence systems to let you “travel” via rovers to other planets like Mars.

Imagine stepping inside a telepresence chamber at your corporate site and holding digital meetings with your customers on the other side of town – or on the other side of the world – via virtual reality. You’ll cut the time, expense, and hassles of long-distance business travel. You’ll be more productive by eliminating jetlag. And you’ll help save our planet by cutting down on fossil fuel burned by passenger airplanes.

Engineers at Silicon Valley companies such as Cisco and HP are now using research done at Ames to build telepresence systems for the near future. In the next 10 years, telepresence could turn into a multi-billion dollar market as broadband Internet networks and superfast computer chips are developed to process the data-intense streams of digital bits and bytes.

Education of the general population, however, is the key for telepresence to truly ignite. People still need to learn the potential of applying telepresence technology to business, schools, and even virtual tourism. That’s where the Silicon Valley World Expo can play a starring role. To understand why, let’s look at the history of expositions and how they can change society.

The world’s first expo opened in London’s Hyde Park on May 1, 1851. It was conceived by Prince Albert, husband of Britain’s Queen Victoria – and a visionary who saw how science and technology can improve life. He developed “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations” to showcase the best ideas and innovations of his age. The exposition’s center piece was the Crystal Palace, a massive cast-iron and glass architectural wonder of Victorian England. Millions of visitors from around the world flocked to The Great Exhibition to experience the latest scientific discoveries and technological innovations presented in Prince Albert’s awe-inspiring edifice.

Albert’s idea caught on. Over the last 160 years, more than 50 exhibitions all over the globe have introduced the public to the latest and greatest in technological marvels. These world expos can ignite new industries. For example, about 27 million people – half the American population – attended the exhibition in Chicago in 1893. Inventor Nikola Tesla wired the Chicago pavilions with alternating current electricity, and visitors went drop-jaw over seeing amazing new electric contraptions and appliances. Shortly after, millions of American consumers started buying these devices – igniting our modern electric age.

World expos help spread the seeds of revolutionary new ideas in science, technology and commerce – the very things that make Silicon Valley an innovation engine. And by using telepresence technology, Silicon Valley World Expo 2020 could be the first in history to sow those seeds in the minds of millions of people around the world who “travel” to it in a virtual reality realm.

Companies could set up satellite telepresence sites for audiences in major world cities. In Silicon Valley, a telepresence tour guide wearing a digital data suit could walk through the various pavilions at Moffett Field, pointing out ingenious ideas and inventions in, say, solar power or electric cars. The telepresence data would shoot through a broadband network and share the fair in real time with “visitors” in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia. They would experience the wonders of Silicon Valley’s expo as if they were actually here.

Telepresence could also very well change society by changing how people see each other. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness,” Mark Twain once said. By developing telepresence technology and showing it off at its world expo, Silicon Valley can provide humanity with a virtual travel tool that would break down intolerance and build up peace and prosperity.

If we do get the opportunity to host World Expo 2020, let’s do it Silicon Valley style. Let’s use telepresence technology to unite the people of our planet in a celebration of human imagination and ingenuity.

Marty Cheek is the author of ‘The Silicon Valley Handbook.’ His column appears every other Friday. You can reach him at martych@gte.net.

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By Issra Omer (http://www.stanforddaily.com/2011/04/28/bay-area-bids-for-world-expo-2020/)

The World Expo, an international event occurring only twice every 10 years and attended by millions around the globe, could be coming to the Bay Area in 2020. California’s bid for the Expo may greatly impact Palo Alto and the greater Bay Area.

A proposal from the Bay Area Council, which represents the region’s nine counties, is currently in the works to bring the Expo to Moffett Field, a 1000-acre civil military airport between Sunnyvale and Mountain View.
The Expo’s benefits to Palo Alto would include an estimated $6.1 billion revenue over its six-month duration.

“Having the visitors would lead to spending on hotels, transportation, commerce and generally lead to more spending,” said Thomas Fehrenbach, economic development manager for Palo Alto.

Fehrenbach said that having the Expo in the midst of the technological advancement of Silicon Valley would highlight innovation and ingenuity. Other supporters say that the Bay Area would be able to put a new spin on the World Expo.

If the Bay Area bid wins, the Expo would conveniently be placed near important companies.

“If you look at the location, you can see that it is right in the heart of Silicon Valley,” said John Grubb, senior vice president for external affairs for the Bay Area Council. “Google is on the north side, Yahoo is close as well and Microsoft, Facebook and LinkedIn are all close by. All these companies that are connecting the world together, which is what the World Expo is all about.”
“The Bay Area is definitely the center of innovation in the U.S. if not the world,” Fehrenbach added. “There is so much to offer in terms of technology and innovation.”

Excitement over the prospects of having the World Expo so close to Palo Alto has also spread on campus.

Natalie Cheng ’14 is particularly enthusiastic about the 2020 Expo, after having seen the Expos in Shanghai, Germany and Italy.

“The Expo embodies so many different cultures [and] it always uses cutting-edge technology to display history and culture,” Cheng said. “Having the World Expo in the Bay Area would be great for people who want to get a taste of countries all around the world without having to travel as much. It’s like bringing the world to America.”

Still, despite the enthusiasm, there are a few roadblocks slowing the progress of the Bay Area’s bid. According to Grubb, one key barrier is the fact that the U.S. is not a member of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), the organization responsible for choosing World Expo locations.

Local congresswoman Anna Eshoo has been leading the efforts for the U.S. bid.

“To bid for the World Expo, the U.S. needs to rejoin the BIE…A U.S.-hosted World Expo has the potential to create jobs, enhance diplomatic relationships and showcase the innovative strength of our country,” Eshoo wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

According to Fehrenbach, there is also the question of financing the World Expo. Because of the economic recession, Palo Alto has found it “difficult to squeeze money out of the expenditures.”

“Having said that, I think it is worth the costs; it has a potential upside that is worth exploring,” he added.

City officials, after all, are expecting the World Expo to leave a lasting mark on Silicon Valley.

“When you think of Silicon Valley, the image you get is nondescript offices or buildings,” Grubb said. “When you think of Paris, you get the image of the Eiffel Tower or the Space Needle for Seattle. All of these landmarks have been the result of past World Expos—this is the Silicon Valley’s chance.”

The BIE is expected to make its final decision regarding the 2020 World Expo location in 2013.

Any updates on this project?

looks interesting..

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