Opinion: The truly great digital city

Computerworld - Over 300 cities and municipalities across the country have launched or are planning to launch wireless broadband or Wi-Fi networks.

But it is not just hosting Internet access that’s always on and everywhere available that makes a truly great digital city. It is the services built on top of wireless and wired broadband platforms, along with the implementation of cutting-edge mobile technologies, that will allow us to leverage the true benefits of public technology.

For example, in Paris (and soon in some U.S. cities) you can find and reserve a parking spot using a cell phone or GPS-enabled device. Later this year, cities in India will begin rolling out a disaster early-warning system that will transmit text and dynamically generated voice messages in 14 different languages to cell phones within 33 seconds of receiving a warning about a tsunami, earthquake or man-made disaster.

The city of the future will not only provide an on-ramp to an emerging digital life, but will also take the lead in innovating the essential vehicles and destinations that make the ride worth taking.

All governments must therefore have a forward-thinking plan to:

Get everyone the tools. While there is a $100 laptop for the developing world and breakthrough cell phone technologies being deployed to help entrepreneurs in poor rural communities overseas, we lack these same opportunities in the poorest areas of our own inner cities and rural locales. A truly great digital city would make such laptops and other low-cost mobile devices as widely available as possible and in fact sponsor public distribution programs to put 21st century tools in the hands of everyone.

Establish standards for digital opportunity. 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 lifelong learning and future jobs. A truly great digital city would advance a 21st century curricula that doesn’t just aim at digital literacy, but also encourages critical thinking skills and collaborative work taught in the context of and using the tools of a next-generation workforce. As the technology changes, so must the curricula.

Think globally, innovate locally. In addition to tracking larger technology trends and opportunities, publicly sponsored R&D that partners a government with local industry, universities and communities can offer neighborhood-relevant tools and services. Immigrants, the underserved and the disabled can and must be included in such efforts. A great digital city does not sit by and watch as its residents become passive consumers of technology, but understands the current technology trends and involves its residents directly in creating them.