On a subject near and dear to me, my friend Andrew Rasiej is running for Public Advocate in NY. Andrew and his team's first big effort
is kicking off tomorrow on the steps of New York's City Hall. Having just spent the last two days attending Supernova, where many of the who's who of the digerati are discussing and debating the promise and future of technology, it got me thinking (again) about the Digital Divide. No, not that one -- the one I am referring to is between the Valley and New York and Government and Technology; individuals who see problems and look for ways to solve them and those who think it has always been done this way and so it shall remain. It reminded me why I love technology and technologist and refreshed my memory on how different these worlds are from each other on SO many levels.
On the one hand, we have come a long way and many new tools are indeed sneaking into places they never would have in the past (yes, blogs are even being used in certain government agencies). On the other hand it is still frustrating to see how existing organizational structures and "old" thinking are impediments to putting some of these great cost effective, smart and efficient tools to use.
Getting an initiative such as Wi-Fi in NYC is vital for pushing the City into the 21st century, but it is no easy task. Tho it may seem like a luxury to many - Wi-Fi in Manhattan would go a long way to helping secure the economic growth and quality of life that--sadly-- NY is in danger of losing due to the incredibly old school nature of many of the city's politicos.
I have bumped up against this issue a number of times from a variety of different angles over the past few years. For most of 2000-2001, I worked with David Spector getting DropZoneNetworks off the ground. DropZone's touchstone product is an outdoor broadband infrastructure platform that makes it incredibly easy and cost effective to deploy smart mesh networks that run on (I love this part) solar power. Makes tons of sense, right? Perfect for first responders such as firefighters as well as security infrastructure needs for places like ports and railroads. Unfortunately, the red-tape and past century bureaucratic thinking of local govt often makes it incredibly difficult to get these kinds of initiatives off the ground. On the community development front, funding is rarely allocated to infrastructure and capital improvements that involve technology.
When launching the Downtown Info Center in 2003, I learned first hand just how backwards local govt can be when it comes to funding technology. We were awarded a generous grant from the NYC council earmarked for capital improvements. At first I were overjoyed, however, it soon become obvious that spending this money intelligently on programs that would actually benefit the project and the Lower Manhattan community was going to be next to impossible. The constraints of the award and the lack of understanding inside governmentt on how technology is deployed made these funds a burden rather than blessing. To put it simply - it is great to tell me I can purchase computers, plasma screens and access points, but if I can't develop any content for them, connect them to a larger network and they have to remain within the four walls of the center, what's the point - they are just simply big shiny metal boxes that take up space.
So - here's wishing Andrew and his team good luck tomorrow. Go get em! I will be cheering on from my seat at the conference still shaking my head at the disconnect.
More on the NY vs the Valley to come...
