A few interesting developments have taken place in Iraq in the last week:  First, Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, visited Iraq to launch a massive digitalization project of the Iraq National Museum.  Then, within a day, the Iraqi government announced its first Youtube channel.  While these two events were likely coordinated, it’s noteworthy that Iraq is at a stage where it’s now able to start thinking about things like social media.

What is the Google project?
The Google project is a joint project with the State-Department to digitalize the Iraq National Museum.  Since the beginning of the war, 15,000 items dating back to the Mesopotamian era have been stolen from the museum.  While 6,000 have been retrieved, the museum has had major security problems over the last decade.  Google employees are charged with taking photographs of the museum to create a digitalized museum for the world.  They have already taken more than 14,000 photographs and are hoping to launch the digital museum by early 2010. 

Why is this important?
• Innovation. The project is creative and compassionate.  Google has decided to work within the space it can, and provide a service that hasn’t been done before.  Not only is this helpful for Iraq, but it’s also the first project of its kind.

• Signaling.  By visiting Iraq, Eric Schmidt is signaling that Iraq is ready for business investments. Schmidt was part of a delegation that travelled to Iraq to explore business opportunities.  Not only is it hugely helpful for Schmidt to visit the country, but having a company like Google endorsing the new Iraq will help change the image of “Iraqi investments” from oil and Halliburton to creative and mission-driven investments. 

• Reclaiming Iraq.  Iraq’s art, ancient history and heritage are some of the most important aspects of Iraqi identity and nationhood.  For the CEO of one of the most powerful private companies in the world to choose to catalogue that heritage is deeply significant.  It recognizes that the country is both more than the last 10 years, and implies that it will also be more than that last 10 years.  As Schmidt said in his remarks at the museum, “I can think of no better use of our time and our resources than to make the images and the ideas of your civilization available to all the people of the world.”

• Providing order.  Apparently, illegal trade in Iraqi antiquities has turned into a major business since the start of the war.  Digitizing the remaining pieces and bringing attention to the missing artifacts could help bring order and a sense of respect.  An investment like this is what I’d call a “broken-windows” investment.  There’s a (controversial) theory that one of the ways the New York City Policy Department helped clean up New York in the 1980s was by fixing broken windows.  The implication was that by fixing windows and erasing graffiti, there was a new order that led to safer streets and greater expectations of those who lived there.   In nation-building and post-conflict reconstruction, these kinds of “broken-windows” investments may be doubly helpful: they bring in money, but more importantly they raise the expectations of citizens and communities for what is and will be valued and maintained.

• Healing and regenerative.  Restoring public buildings and places of culture and heritage is particularly important for a war-torn country.  While gaining control over fiscal policy and security is vital, equally as important is rebuilding symbolic pieces of the country and culture.

• Mission-aligned. Google is finding a project that aligns with its own mission (to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful).  For projects to be sustainable, companies must do what they do best, regardless of the climate. 

What are the potential pitfalls?
• Financial sustainability.  It’s not entirely clear yet what the business model is of this investment.  It’s one thing for Google to digitize an Iraqi museum, presumably with a lot of security protection; it’s entirely another to see how other ventures might be profitable.  While this is not a problem for a corporate giant like Google, it might not help with encouraging real investment.

• Jumping the gun?  While one has to begin somewhere, it might be irresponsible to convey a sense of business readiness at this point.  Kudos to Schmidt for going to Iraq, but how many other business leaders will have the equal level of security on such visits? Schmidt should be commended for the trip, but due diligence should also be done before smaller companies begin to invest.

• Going it alone. Google seems to be launching this project as a public-private partnership with the State Department.  Here’s to the State Department for funding such an innovative project. One area to explore: Is Iraq ready for private investment?  How do we begin to build infrastructure for such investments?

Parting Thoughts
How else could technology be used in reconstruction? Will the Iraqi Youtube station be any different than a state-television station? How can social media and social media companies help in country-building?

This is a great step forward, and hats off to the folks at Google as well as the State Department for such innovative, context-appropriate, and mission-aligned peace-building.