How to think local about the global tech companies

Remember when futurists told us that the internet would result in the “death of distance”? That prophecy has fallen short, as cities remain hubs for commerce and community. The growing geographic consequences of digital technologies puts new demands on decision makers at all levels of government. Bolstering their levels of expertise on these issues is clearly needed and each of the local policy issues raised above would benefit from additional analytical scrutiny.

Improving government’s capacity to understand technology is a long-term undertaking and it is in the interest of the tech industry for this capacity to improve. Want better decisions on the growing list of tech policies at all levels of government? Then support building expertise within government to understand the nuances of policy choices. Such an effort should be expansive in its scope. Policymakers have to know something, not just about technology’s impacts, but also its interactions with adjacent policy fields, such as taxation, healthcare, and social services.

[John Horrigan is a senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute]