Jared Kushner Might Now Be Our Best Hope for World-Class Internet

[Commentary] Those who urge progressive tech policy have no more ideas than anyone about how the surprise results of the 2016 election will affect the issues about which they care the most. But in one area, I see reason for hope.

Donald Trump and his colleagues are reportedly warming to the idea of an infrastructure bank, although we don’t have much information about how that bank would operate. An infrastructure bank or banks could nudge the country fully into the digital era as well as generate a host of new occupations. Jared Kushner, the soft-voiced, influential son-in-law of the President-elect, will understand these suggestions. (I respect Kushner; I met with him a few times to discuss connectivity issues in New York City.) After all, he and his team launched WiredScore.com, which labels commercial buildings across the country on the basis of their connectivity. He knows that where there are uncompetitive markets for data services, businesses suffer. It’s Kushner’s role as a developer that should make it particularly easy for him to understand the need for open, multipurpose, do-it-once infrastructure that forces competition into markets where it has withered.

[From Nov 23, 2016]

[Susan Crawford is the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a co-director of the Berkman Center.]