INTERNET FOR ALL

While most experts believe that PC ownership will peak at around 67% of American homes, new wireless technologies are bringing the opportunity frontier right into the hands of users themselves. The so-called “digital divide,” which emerged just a few years ago, caused concern about the evolution of a level playing field between the techno haves and have-nots. The ability to go online, which is tied to income, is significantly less for minorities. But just how will new technologies change the opportunity paradigm for those that have traditionally been shut out?

In the wireless world, two distinct paths of accessing the Internet are emerging. One relies on developing Wi-Fi infrastructures so that by using a laptop, you can go online from anywhere. The other is through delivery right to your cellular phone. There are currently some 1.2 billion cellular users globally, and last year, nearly half a trillion dollars was spent on wireless services and equipment. Clearly, this represents opportunity, particularly in urban centers where dense concentrations of wireless users reside. The issue now is which technologies and devices will win the day in terms of usage.

So what are the implications for urban America? First, with such high cellular usage already in place, the technology infrastructure for the next generation of applications will be much easier to plant than was the initial entry of the PC. Second, because high-speed Internet access is inherent in this new family of products, the current divide should decline at a rather brisk pace over the next few years. Third, it means that urban entrepreneurs will have the same tools as everyone else and are therefore well positioned to create economic opportunity.

Now comes the rub. If public policy were to focus on the development of entrepreneurs, particularly those in urban centers — and not just through tax incentives, but also through other kinds of strategic investments — it might well be able to reduce chronic urban unemployment.

When technology meets progressive public policy, the opportunity to solve the chronic economic challenges facing urban America cannot be far behind. However, an understanding of this emerging relationship must be integrated into the thinking of policy makers at all levels of government and with business and community leadership alike if it is to have the intended effect — namely, to empower those who have been disenfranchised in the past. The future offered by wireless is encouraging. All we need now is the same progress in human technology.