Press / Articles / White Papers
Digital Communities Race
This article was originally published on the Digital Communities website. View Original Article 
If digital communities intend to be communities of the future, their planners and decision-makers must take into account the global landscape. The magnitude of global change and its impact on communities is critical to understand. When leaders incorporate this data into their planning, they significantly increase and enhance their ability to build competitive and sustainable future communities.
Globalization has created unprecedented opportunities for government leaders at every level in every country. At the epicenter of global expansion is the convergence of innovation and technology, and the participation from some of the most populous countries in the world, such as India, China and Pakistan. These combined forces are largely responsible for new and thriving global markets and communities.
The idea of the digital community is catching on across the globe. With the increase in many countries' adoption of high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi, the United States -- once a leader in this arena -- must catch up to simply remain a contender, and can learn some lessons from communities worldwide.
The 2020 Project, a U.S government report released by the National Intelligence Council (NIC), indicates that the United States is still in a position to retain its overall lead. It must, however, increasingly compete with Asia to retain its edge, according to the report, and may lose significant ground in some sectors. There is much our municipal leaders can do to help the United States retain its position at the cutting edge of the digital community revolution. .
Top Intelligence
The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced that no community or city in the United States made the list of the world's Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2007. The ICF made this announcement at the 29th Annual Pacific Telecommunications Council Conference, and will announce 2007's Intelligent Community of the Year in May.
The ICF's criteria for qualifying as an intelligent community includes an analysis of how advanced the community is in deploying broadband, building a knowledge-based work force, combining government and private-sector digital inclusion, fostering innovation, and marketing economic development, according to its Web site.
"Nomination submissions came from 12 countries on four continents, and community population ranged from 22,000 to 7 million," the ICF said. Five U.S. communities qualified for the first round of chosen submissions, known as the Smart21 Communities. They include Loma Linda and San Francisco, Calif.; Ashland, Ore.; Bettendorf, Iowa; and Corpus Christi, Texas.
Though none of them made the finals, but the ICF did praise these U.S communities for "demonstrating new grassroots commitment in a nation that has no formal broadband policy." This reveals the strong desire of U.S. community leaders to improve services for constituents, but also indicates that the speed with which community leaders execute their strategies will be a significant factor in future U.S. global rankings.
The Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2007 are Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea; Dundee, Scotland; Issy-les-Moulineaux, France; Tallinn, Estonia; Ottawa-Gatineau and Ontario-Quebec, Canada; Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom; and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Awakening the Spirit
The ICF isn't the only group with data pointing to slipping U.S. technological prowess. June 2006 statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development indicates that the United States ranked 12 out of 30 member countries in the percentage of its population that can access broadband. Among the 11 countries surpassing the United States are Iceland, Canada, the United Kingdom and Korea. Even so, the United States does have the largest raw number of broadband subscribers at 57 million.
Although the 2020 Project report indicates that the United States will retain a leadership position, another market research firm, Website Optimization, recently released a report saying the United States fell to 19th place in broadband penetration worldwide, and is in danger of being passed by Slovenia in early 2007.
President George W. Bush acknowledged the importance of widespread broadband use in the United States when he spoke of his national goal for its deployment in March 2004, stating the country should have "... universal, affordable access for broadband technology by the year 2007 ... we ought to make sure as soon as possible thereafter, consumers have plenty of choices when it comes to [their] broadband carrier."
The data available suggests that the United States has fallen short of this goal. Quite simply, if the United States intends to stay at the helm with regard to technology, local community leaders must energize the movement and promote broadband themselves.
One explanation often proffered for the slowness of broadband deployment in the United States is the country's geography, which is densely populated in urban hubs, but less crowded in rural towns. This makes it more challenging to provide broadband services where communities are rural and people are dispersed. However, China, which also covers a vast expanse of land, is projected to surpass the United States in its broadband subscribers this year, when estimates indicate there will be 79 million broadband subscribers. China's expected to have 139 million subscribers by 2010.
With the convergence of IT and globalization, remote villages and localities are coming online. The adoption of Wi-Fi and WiMAX is spreading, allowing remote and otherwise nearly unreachable places to get on the Web.
Future U.S. competitors will be the ones who jump ahead technologically because their legacy issues didn't slow the process or adoption. For U.S. communities to remain or increase their economic prosperity, they will need to design their road maps and business models so they thrive at the local level -- while simultaneously competing on a global scale.
Cutting Ties
With the emergence of giant populations in the East, such as India and China, U.S. communities should utilize broadband to deploy solutions and services that allow communities to protect and rejuvenate the road to prosperity in this global economy.
Wi-Fi was deployed in Bhutan, a landlocked south Asian nation situated between India and China, and in the Amazon rain forest in Brazil. Both offer Wi-Fi to their villagers and residents to enhance their health care, educational skills and online participation.
As more of these communities emerge and participate in the online world, they strengthen their own community positioning and economic development. However, they also become competitors to developed communities, including those in the United States.
At Mount Everest's base camp located at about 17,000 feet, a cyber-café recently opened. Imagine a world where while climbing Mount Everest, people can e-mail home to tell of their journey, broker a business transaction, place an order or sell goods online.
Competitive communities will continue to materialize and prosper, and will challenge the economic future of developed communities that don't keep up with global trends because they're tied to legacy technology models.
The introduction to an emerging technology and the time it takes to deploy that technology is too often so long that the technology becomes outdated. And unfortunately, U.S. processes and systems are often slower than countries or communities without a multitiered, bureaucratic government.
Along with certain competitive advantages, which the United States has held for decades, come hindering legacy technologies and process issues -- absolute factors that have contributed to the United States' technology decline. The breadth and determination of new competitors will become increasingly evident and powerful at the local level, and leave behind those communities reluctant to let go of legacy equipment and quickly adopt new technologies.
Further confounding the U.S. broadband perception is that the United States defines broadband as 200 Kbps. For many, this may seem trivial, but other countries and communities far surpass that speed -- Korea, for example, works on broadband as fast as 50 Mbps. The dynamics and habits of the Internet community changing the speed and access with which users can receive and contribute data will prove to be important differentiators. Communities should consider this factor in building their competitive advantages.
With the rise in popularity of YouTube and other rich media-based usage models, Internet users will soon demand not only faster download speeds, but also faster upload speeds.
Another potential issue is that the United States has a growing need for people trained in IT, and the supply is declining. In 2003, the National Science Foundation revealed that 31 percent of doctoral degrees earned in the United States -- and approximately 60 percent of engineering degrees -- went to foreign students, and their permanent residence in the United States is not guaranteed.
Global Development
When developing countries break the technological barrier, a work force numbering in the hundreds of millions will emerge. Their government leaders will recognize that human capital is essential for growth, and will emphasize education, skills and better quality products. This emerging work force will be formidable. Community leaders must establish training and education centers to compete with the onslaught that is beginning to unfold, and must assist in the proliferation of a highly skilled and flexible work force.
With the emergence of national powers in Asia and elsewhere, combined with the breadth and speed of a globalizing world, Americans can be sure these factors will contribute mightily to defining our communities and our world in the future. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2020, China's population will grow to nearly 1.5 billion; India's will be 1.4 billion; the United States will be 330 million; Indonesia's will be 270 million; Pakistan's will be 215 million; and Brazil's population will reach 212 million.
All of these countries -- with the exception of the United States -- are just beginning to deploy technology to the masses, hence unleashing their workforce. And their progress can already be felt.
As technology is adopted globally, traditional boundaries and barriers will erode because transactions can originate anywhere. Emerging technologies and the adoption of standards is also allowing Third World countries to leap ahead.
"We are committed to deploying Pakistan's first nationwide network -- the largest 802.16e WiMAX network in the world with more than 1 million users -- and to enabling access to a range of voice, Internet, data and value-added services via the network," said Tariq Malik of Wateen Telecom, Pakistan's largest private-sector communications company. "This is an important milestone in realizing our vision of 'Broadband Pakistan.'"
Developing countries such as Pakistan are among the first to adopt a large-scale deployment of Mobile WiMAX, with the goal of jumping ahead and providing broadband infrastructure for its citizens and businesses so they can be mobile and more competitive.
Although their standard of living in the beginning will not match that of the United States, their passion to succeed will let them compete. Neither China, India nor Pakistan need meet the living standards of the West to become significant economic powers.
These populations are U.S. communities' new competition. How the United States will work with the torrent of technologically equipped communities -- and how we adapt our processes, plans and strategies -- will define our ability to maintain a competitive edge. But it is daunting for our community leaders to wrap their heads around all the ingredients and global information needed to design and unleash prosperous digital communities.
National Visions
Indian President Abdul Kalam, a rocket engineer and eminent scientist, delivered a watershed speech to his country and the rest of the world in 2003. Kalam announced India's plan for transforming his country from a developing nation to a developed nation by 2020. In the three years since his announcement, it's evident that goals are being met and that the country is on its way to becoming a power player.
At the forefront of his plan is the technology vision that Kalam and other experts formulated for the country. Among many notable items is his plan to enhance the country's bandwidth. The goal was to bring India 1 GBps connectivity.
Kalam also stated his view on bandwidth in a separate speech. "I have a vision that bandwidth should be free and made available to all those who need it," he said. "Bandwidth is the demolisher of imbalances and a great leveler in the knowledge of society."
Kalam has also urged the Indian IT market to aim for 50 percent of the global IT market, and to acquire a lion's share of the world's $300 billion (U.S. dollars) global offshoring market. Citing a 2005 report done by NASSCOM-McKinsey, Kalam explained that the addressable market for global offshoring is now around $300 billion, and India is only tapping 10 percent of this market.
India provides us with a fascinating glimpse into, and a reminder of, the determination, passion and will of America's early pioneers and settlers. Although rocket engineer and scientist are not typical attributes found in politicians, perhaps Kalam, if his plan is successful, will also unwittingly transform the qualities we look for in 21st-century politicians.
Still, according to the NIC's 2020 Project, the United States will continue to lead, influence and shape the global economy. The addition of these new mega country players, however, will mean that business as usual cannot continue.
Though the United States is expected to remain the global leader "across all dimensions of power," according to the NIC report, many suggest erosion is occurring as China and India move aggressively to catch up.
Both China and India are poised to lead and influence technology development, and are investing in general IT and placing significant focus and resource in nanotechnology and biotechnology. These countries are also well positioned to influence developing countries.
As an increasingly diverse population participates in the IT world, it will spur more virtual communities. Growing connectivity and an increasing number of virtual communities will affect governments at the national and global levels, as well as at the state and local levels. Virtual communities will serve as a breeding ground for global opinions as they bring like-minded people together and create power through strength in numbers. And with their ability to affect grass-roots influences, governance will be challenged and transformed.
Communities wishing to lead and prevail will set goals and reach them; embrace the interconnected path to prosperity; prepare for a disparate community and work force; and plan for sustained interoperable communications in cases of natural disasters, terrorist activities or pandemics.
Cutting-edge community leaders will recognize that they must disconnect their community members from the confines of an exact location, and understand that virtual communities will continue to increase, diversify and have profound effects at every level. Prevailing communities will focus on collaboration, and build cooperation among their constituents, their regions and beyond. They will also engage programs, and work with leading technology companies to encourage the promotion of innovation, skilled training and education.
The plan and the progress for becoming a digital community should be the marker by which people measure their community's wellness, strength and position in the global market. Digital communities aim to afford their citizens and businesses both a platform and the tools to enhance their constituents' safety, and to compete and thrive in the 21st century. Communities that readily adopt new technologies will emerge as the pre-eminent digital community leaders.