The Bridge to Smart Technology

Over the next five years the U.S. is poised to spend more than $500 billion on infrastructure, more than the amount spent to build the entire Interstate Highway System in today's dollars. The money will come from President Barack Obama's stimulus package and a separate transportation bill that Congress is expected to approve in September. The avalanche of cash comes just as a host of so-called smart technologies is emerging to make it possible to build roads, bridges, mass transit systems, schools, hospitals, and electric grids faster and better, and to operate them more efficiently. There are tensions over how smart to make the country's infrastructure, though. On one side, tech leaders portray this as an unprecedented opportunity for the US to catch up with countries in Asia and the Middle East that have spent billions on futuristic cities and other projects in recent years. "Smarter infrastructure is by far our best path to creating these new, globally competitive jobs and stimulating growth," said IBM (IBM) Chief Executive Samuel J. Palmisano in January, after meeting with Obama to discuss the stimulus package. On the other side of the debate are traditional construction trade groups and many politicians. They argue that the emphasis in government spending should be on creating as many jobs as quickly as possible, so old-fashioned brick-and-mortar projects make the most sense.