Building the "Smart Communities" of Tomorrow

An initial concern of the Foundation will be to redefine the concept of "communities" -- that social and political unite closest to the people, and/or best suited to provide the framework for community development. This could be a unit as small as a village or neighborhood, or an entire regional metropolis, or state, or nation state. At present, for example, cities all over the world are at, or near, bankruptcy, particularly in the United States. Some are dying , or "hollowing out" as people migrate elsewhere. Why? One reason is that cities of the past were built along railways, highways and waterways. Cities of the future will be built along "information highways" -- the new communications infrastructures carrying voice, video, text and data to every home, school, hospital and business, large and small.

Perhaps more importantly, in this age of the World Wide Web and the Internet is that the emerging information age metropolises are not cities in the usual sense. They are instead powerful regional economies built on a shared sense of mission and a recognition of the value of collaboration and cooperation. However, their future is not dependent upon cyberspace, the Internet or the World Wide Web. Cites of the future will be real places inhabited by real people whose interests and needs change as all things are changing and must change in the face of the dramatic shift in the basic structure of our economy and society. In this regard, creating or renewing the smart community involves the architect and the planner, as well as the more traditional politician and policy maker.

Today, the players building the new infrastructures are the cable and telephone companies, broadcasters, electric and water utilities, the universities, the military and m any others. Unfortunately, in most cases they are working independently of one another.

The most successful communities, however, are those which, with the increasing involvement of local government and community groups, are not only building community-wide grids, but are exploring new ways of using technology as a catalyst to transform business and government and every sector of the economy. The grid itself, of course, is only a stepping stone in this transformation process.

If communities are to be truly successful, many things must change to accommodate the transition to the knowledge-based and multicultural era. Applications to change both the definition and delivery of health care, education, and government itself, for example, form a critical part of the total transformation. System that promote wellness as they serve to cure illness; systems that encourage and permit life-long, anywhere, anytime learning; and systems that redefine the role and responsibilities of government, as part of this new paradigm.

Another critical component is the recognition of the importance of art and culture, Indeed, if the product of this mew age is "multimedia" -- highly integrated software and knowldge-based, information-sensitive products and services appealing to all of our senses and our intellect -- local, regional and national cultures must play a prominent role in the construct and commerce of the new smart communities.

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