Us, Not You, for Person of the Year

Computerworld - “Is anybody making technology and access to it for me, and not just for some rich kid?” I overheard a young student ask. At the time, I was in the classroom at Street Tech, a San Francisco Bay area technology training and job placement program for low-income and underserved adults.

The answer is complicated. Or is it?

Trickle-down technology is a fact of life in the U.S., just as are trickle-down employment, housing and wealth distribution. Thankfully, we as a nation believe in offering a safety net to keep people from slipping over the edge entirely. But we also harbor a competing set of beliefs that people get what they deserve and that working hard entitles one to certain “freedoms,” like unlimited wealth accumulation.

What if technology could help us to move beyond a “to the victor go the spoils” mentality? What if we all had similar access to the tools for success in a world that is being rapidly flattened, as Thomas Friedman suggests, by technology changes? That flattening already has some welcome partners, like municipal and community wireless broadband networks that are attempting to offer free and low-cost Internet access to everyone.

Here are some additional things we could do:

Simple, affordable tools. While we have a $100 laptop in production for the developing world and breakthrough cell phone technologies being deployed to help entrepreneurs in poor rural communities overseas, many of our own poor are being overlooked in the U.S. For example, a cheap mobile device could go a long way toward keeping a homeless person connected to social services, jobs and people in a position to help.

School- and community-based training. Our public schools, nonprofits, community centers and libraries are badly in need of technology training curricula and programs that support innovation and practical training for future jobs. Beyond supporting prison reform and expansion, for example, shouldn’t we also be thinking about training as many inmates as possible for the 21st century workforce while they are incarcerated?

Community-based research and development. Beyond designing tools and Web2.0 services for high-end consumers, there exists a tremendous opportunity for technology businesses to form community-based partnerships designed locally for the disadvantaged and disabled. This will open up new markets and encourage innovation on the ground.

Small-business development. Existing entrepreneurship training and microenterprise programs could be expanded to include Web training for new entrepreneurs and local merchants, utilizing a plethora of free and low-cost e-commerce tools now available. A virtual economic empowerment zone could be established to support struggling entrepreneurs, and co-ops for online advertising could be made available to local merchants to bolster local economic development.