Jack Karsten

Once launched, fifth generation (5G) wireless technologies promise to connect billions of devices together in the Internet of the things. 5G combines wireless technologies like 4G and Wi-Fi with new computing methods such as network functions virtualization and software defined networking to dramatically speed up communications in large networks of digital devices.

In a new paper, Darrell West outlines the ways in which cities can apply these technologies to use scarce natural resources more efficiently. Water availability, air quality, and energy efficiency can each be improved by a network of sensors and computers analyzing real-time data. Reducing waste with 5G technologies will reap benefits from cost savings to better public health.

Brookings Vice President Darrell West announced that Dr Nicol Turner-Lee has joined the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program. Dr Turner-Lee will serve as a fellow in the program’s Center for Technology Innovation and as a contributor to TechTank. Dr Turner-Lee comes to Brookings from the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC). She served as vice president and chief research and policy officer during her tenure, and led the design and implementation of their research, policy, and advocacy agendas. Dr. Turner-Lee’s most notable research was her development of the first national minority broadband adoption study, empirical research that was conducted during her tenure at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and cited in the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan. At the Center for Technology Innovation, Dr. Turner-Lee will research public policy designed to enable more equitable access to technology across the US and to harness its power to create change in communities around the world.

[Commentary] On July 28, Facebook issued a Safety Check in response to a shooting in a Chicago (IL) neighborhood, asking its users located in the area to verify if they were safe. Rather than wait for one of its employees to issue a Safety Check in the wake of a crisis, Facebook has recently begun using community-generated Safety Checks. These alerts are generated when a spike in user statuses tells the algorithm that there’s a crisis underway, which Facebook can follow-up with an employee-initiated Safety Check. As Facebook strives to make its crisis alert features faster and more precise, it gains use as a real-time crisis management tool rather than simply a crisis news source.

Using Facebook’s unique platform, Safety Check offers a clear advantage over inadequate government crisis alert mechanisms. First, “check in” messages instantly relay a tacit “stay away” to nearby citizens, increasing their emergency situational awareness. Second, Safety Check offers an alternative to telephone networks, which often jam up during crises. Third, today’s crises affect victims from many different nations, which makes reporting even more chaotic. With its centralized network of over 1.13 billion daily users, Facebook fills the need for a global crisis communication tool. By allowing users to quickly communicate that they are okay to loved ones or friends, Facebook can absorb some of the work of overburdened government crisis-response programs, allowing them to focus on other critical tasks like searching for missing persons. Such help would be welcomed by the government: in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the State Department urged citizens to check in with family, not to contact the US Embassy. In the immediate wake of a crisis, the government lacks Facebook’s capacity to update billions of people on a person’s status.

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission in 2015 redefined broadband as connections with 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download speeds and 4 Mbps upload speeds. This is more than six times the previous standard of 4 Mbps download, allowing for multiple simultaneous video streams. According to the FCC’s 2016 Broadband Progress Report, 10 percent of Americans lack access to broadband by this definition. This number, however, fails to illustrate the stark contrast between rural and urban access to broadband. Rural areas have significantly slower Internet access, with 39 percent lacking access to broadband of 25/4 Mbps, compared to only 4 percent for urban areas. This rural/urban “digital divide” in access severely limits rural populations from taking advantage of a critical component of modern life.

The FCC has been responsible for universal service of telecommunications since its inception in 1934, creating equal access to communications like phone service. In 2007, the Joint Board of the FCC redefined the concept of universal service to include broadband. Coupled with the recent network neutrality decision, the FCC wields a powerful precedent to create equal access to broadband. To fulfill its role, the FCC must do more as a regulatory body to ensure equal access to this public utility. It has made efforts in recent years to expand the Connect America Fund, providing funding to create broadband access for over 7 million consumers over the next 6 years. However, the FCC must expand access alongside advances in technology rather than after the fact, satisfying increased demands for faster internet with infrastructure growth. Otherwise, rural communities will continue to play catch up with their urban counterparts and the US will remain digitally divided.

By the end of the decade, the fifth-generation (5G) network is expected to support 50 billion connected devices with speeds of more than 100 megabits per second. 5G’s connectivity, computing power, and virtual system architecture will soon expand the mobile Internet of things (IoT). The connection of billions of digital devices through IoT will pave the way for innovation across industries and markets; in particular, connected medicine has the potential to transform health care through imaging, diagnostics, and treatment improvements, among other groundbreaking new possibilities.

In this paper, Darrell West discusses the unique capabilities of the 5G era, explores applications of IoT technology in medicine, and recommends policies for making these new care delivery systems a reality. 5G technology has the potential to increase patient access to treatment options, reduce hospital visits, and create a flexible network of telehealth, in addition to reducing overall medical costs. West argues that work needs to be done to facilitate an end-to-end system. Fully realizing the potential of the health IoT will require investments in digital infrastructure and changes in reimbursement policy, privacy protection, and research data. Devices must connect to networks and the cloud in ways that are interoperable and secure. That will enable health providers and patients to receive the benefits of digital innovation for wellness and health care. By overcoming these barriers, both health care consumers and providers will see substantial advances in medical treatment.