Building Communities around Digital Highways
Karim Sabbagh, Roman Friedrich, Bahjat El-Darwiche, Milind K. Singh · 2011
and MILIND SINGH, Booz & Company In March 2009, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, an effort to address the fact that only seven of ten households in the United States use the Internet. Beyond examining infrastructure requirements, the FCC plan recognized that ubiquitous, affordable high-speed broadband is essential in driving national competitiveness: broadband, as noted in the plan, enables advances in seven priority areas, including education, healthcare, energy and the environment, and civic engagement.1 The United States is far from alone in its aspirations. Governments around the world are spending billions and setting ambitious targets as they recognize that a crucial foundation for many areas of socioeconomic development are digital highways—defined as nationwide high-speed broadband enabled by a combination of fixed as well as wireless networks. Just as actual highways connect people and foster social and commercial activity, digital highways can facilitate the creation of virtual communities in vital areas. When policymakers and telecommunications operators collaborate with leaders in other sectors, such as health and education, they are laying the groundwork for profound improvements—boosting national competitiveness, innovation, economic productivity, and social inclusion. Accelerating the deployment of digital highways and deriving their full benefits is not a simple task. It requires fundamental changes in vision and action throughout the entire broadband ecosystem. Policymakers and network operators first must look beyond broadband networks alone and facilitate the development of a host of related services and applications, then actively encourage citizens to use them. There is also a strong need for collaboration among other sector participants such as device manufacturers, application developers, and counterparts in adjoining sectors. Finally, the members of the broadband ecosystem must work with their counterparts in adjacent industries—such as health, energy, education, and transportation—to develop the applications that will help those sectors to reap broadband’s benefits. Only when all of these stakeholders are fully engaged can digital highways reach their full potential and facilitate efficiency, competitiveness, and prosperity in the communities they serve. After making the case for the need for digital highways and assessing their current development status, this chapter will explore the actions required from policymakers, networked operators, and other relevant stakeholders to facilitate broadband deployment as well as the opportunities ahead. 47 1. 3: B ui ld in g Co m m un iti es a ro un d Di gi ta l H ig hw ay s