Internet Innovation

President-elect Barack Obama’s appointment of the first ever Chief Technology Officer will be as significant an appointee as the Sec. of State or Attorney General were, if not more so. As the internet becomes even more vital to our every day life than it already is, the CTO will be in charge of making sure operations run smoothly and new innovations are reached that can help our nation’s needs and technological goals.

A CTO of a corporation is responsible for “the transformation of capital- be it monetary, intellectual, or political- into technology in furtherance of the company’s objectives.” But what exactly will the objectives of Obama’s administation, and subsequently our nation as a whole, be for the internet in the future?

As this petition cites, our goals should be to “commit to providing affordable high-speed wireless Internet access nationwide, along with protecting and expanding unlicensed spectrum for public use, and make the Internet a reliable part of our infrastructure so that it delivers on its next phase, transforming how we do business, learn, play, participate in our democracy, stay secure, and govern.”  The petition also calls for an Internet Innovation and Investment Fund which would help in reaching these goals and whatever goals are agreed upon within the administration.

One of the most important goals the CTO should work to reach is extending the arm of the internet to every segment of our population. I know if you are able to read this, the thought that people in this country remain disconnected from the internet sounds ridiculous. But the problem remains. According to a study performed by the Pew Internet and American Life Project conducted in 2004, 68 percent of suburban communities are connected, but that percentage drops to 62 in urban communities and drops even further in rural communities where the percentage of citizens online is only 56 percent. The goal of providing affordable high-speed wireless access cannot be obtained until we have 100 percent of citizens connected nationwide, regardless of locality.

However, the demand for internet connection is so high that the capacity itself may not be able to handle it. According to the Nemertes Research Group, by 2012 the strain on the internet’s infrastructure, coming from more users getting online, will cause internet brownouts. The infrastructure simply cannot accodmodate this overflooding.

“We still project demand to exceed capacity at the access layer of the Internet by 2012, and the situation is slightly worse than we originally projected in North America,” said Dr. Mike Jude, senior analyst, Nemertes Research. 

The financial requirement predicted to be needed to bridge this gap in the United States alone is estimated at about $55 million, globally at $137 million. The petition I am refuting is calling for a minimal budget of $20 billion for the Internet Innovation and Investment Fund, but I’m afraid that that figure is far below what is needed to even get started.   

The connection rate in other countries is far below the dismal numbers of the United States, however. According to data presented by ITU in 2002, Portugal and Spain had online rates of less than 20 percent, Turkey and Mexico rates of less than 10 percent. I believe that a goal of the first CTO of the federal government should be to raise the world’s connection rates, because innovation can be developed in every corner of society, not just in the United States.

A. Martin