Category Archives: Infrastructure

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Larry on the true potential of E-Government

In the Wall Street Journal today, I write, with Blair Levin, about what we see as the best option for DOGE, the proposed advisory group within the White House that is tasked with improving government efficiency and cutting costs.

We propose making a serious effort to shift federal services from inefficient, understaffed and overworked local offices to the Internet, which would of course necessitate considerable upgrades to federal IT systems, as well as completing the build-out of broadband to the 7% of U.S. homes that still do not have a high-speed provider. Subsidies for the poor, and equipment, training, and support for some older Americans will also be necessary.

The build-out has already been funded through the 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act.

The rest would have to come out of the savings from shutting down field offices.

Why All Companies Need a “Political Strategy” – New in MIT Sloan Management Review

My co-author Blair Levin and I are pleased to announce the publication of our latest article for MIT Sloan Management Review, which will also appear in the upcoming Winter issue.

The article reviews growing clashes between companies embracing stakeholder values and roiling political waters at home and abroad.  Many enterprises have been caught off-guard, leading to damaging PR crises and ad hoc responses.

We propose the creation of a comprehensive political strategy, and offer five guiding principles that successful companies have already embraced.

Check out the article here (registration required):

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/every-company-needs-a-political-strategy-today/

Announcing the Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity and Inclusion

I’m pleased to announce the publication of the Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity and Inclusion, for which I served as volunteer co-author and editor-in-chief.  The Plan, commissioned by the National Urban League, is a comprehensive agenda for closing what remains of the U.S. digital divide.

The plan, including a detailed executive summary, can be found here:  https://nul.org/program/lewis-latimer-plan

The Latimer Plan occupied much of my time last year, and I’m excited to see it finally in print, just as Washington is beginning to debate infrastructure, a key (though not the sole) component of our plan.  Though the Biden approach to network availability differs significantly from the Latimer plan, the goals of the two plans are the same, and it may be turn out that the Latimer approach wins out as the more cost-effective, timely, pragmatic, and bi-partisan.  We’ll see!

Learning from the COVID-19 Crisis

Larry and National Broadband Plan author Blair Levin published a white paper this week with the Aspen Institute on the Internet’s many contributions to managing the COVID-19 crisis. The authors propose an initiative to review remaining gaps in the digital transformation of business, a cross between the NBP and the 9/11 Commission. Read their recommendations here:

https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/the-internet-after-covid-19-will-we-mind-the-gaps/