High Tech as Infrastructure

Another Sunday Herald caught my attention. ‘Scotland at risk of falling behind in technology race’ got me thinking about where Indiana is in the global technology race. We know where our dependence on manufacturing has lead us. Well, we in Anderson and Muncie and Kokomo and Marion do, but I am not so sure that the fellow in the Governor's office does.

Citing global competition and worrying evidence that the country is slipping behind its international competitors, seven industry leaders joined in calling upon the government to invest in creating a national digital infrastructure. Speaking at the Sunday Herald's Digital Future debate in Glasgow last week week, the key players outlined an urgent requirement to prioritise future planning and appoint technology tsars to spearhead the process.

Raymond O'Hare, regional director of Microsoft Scotland, said: "Scotland is in danger of having no digital future, because it has no digital leadership. There are amazing new technologies just around the corner, and what worries me is that if we had them today most of us could not use them, because we do not have a technology infrastructure capable of doing the job.

Remember Scotland is not quite an independent nation - and Indiana certainly is not. Both Indiana and Scotland operate within a wider government. Too bad they seem more ready to promote themselves.

But what really caught my attention was this paragraph:

"Technology should be viewed in Scotland as the fifth infrastructure - right up there with road, rail, sea and airlines - as I believe that any money invested in IT would realise a far greater return. We need to think carefully about this, and consider whether the country needs a joined-up digital strategy and the appointment of a national chief information officer."

Well, duh. Maybe not fifth in Indiana (as an East Coast cousin of mine once said, Indiana has no ocean) but fiber optic cable and the like should be thought of as necessary infrastructure. Just like roads and sewers. I think we know this here, we certainly have circled around the idea. But that paragraph formulates the concept clearly and one that can Indiana can and should adopt.