Guest Column: Technology
Investing in the Invisible Infrastructure
The country’s economic health and security depend on smart technology — not just roads and bridges.
Gopal Khanna, chief information officer for the state of Minnesota
From this country's inception, America's penchant for freedom, technology and entrepreneurship has been an integral part of who we are and why we are successful. But this success also depended on the creation of a sophisticated infrastructure -- roads, electrical power systems and telecommunications lines. Coupled with our dynamic nature, our physical infrastructure gave us a competitive advantage in the last century. Our nation's transformation into a global economic power could not have happened without a vast complex of railroad lines, airports and highways to move goods and people in a network of commerce. A wide range of services demanded by a growing population and economy required fresh water, sewer lines and treatment facilities, power generation plants, and electrical networks. These structures and systems provided the foundation for unprecedented wealth.
Maintaining and improving that infrastructure will be essential to the nation's economic health and security. Policy makers across the country are focused on making smarter, more cost-effective infrastructure investments, including roads, bridges, ports and public transportation. But in the economy of this century, the importance of this physical infrastructure is matched by a relatively new capacity that all nations must possess if they are to compete globally — the infrastructure of information technology.
Technology is required to manage the individual components of our physical infrastructure — to operate the transportation, power, and sanitation systems on which our lives increasingly depend. But our IT infrastructure also captures, stores, analyzes and conveys the information flows that are the very basis of the knowledge economy. In 2004, the United States invested $16.3 billion in new factories. It invested $1.1 trillion in technology. IT investments were responsible for virtually all of the increased labor productivity that occurred between 1996 and 2002.
The Economic Nervous System
Just as bricks and mortar were the foundation of our nation's economic vitality during the 20th century, our Digital Cyber Complex will support our competitive advantage in the 21st century.
The Internet and other elements of our digital infrastructure form the nervous system that connects critical infrastructure and industries, providing real-time information for operational and strategic decisions. Technology permeates the electrical power grid, oil and gas pipelines, and financial systems alike. In fact, it is not uncommon for farmers to have their laptops with them in their fields. Information technology is an indispensable competitive tool and, quite simply, the highway, the engine and the source of tomorrow's virtual economy, all rolled into one.
But like roads and bridges, this Digital Cyber Complex will need continuous planning, maintenance and upgrading in order for its services to be available when, where and how they're needed. Today's digital infrastructure was created in an ad hoc manner over the last 50 years, with multiple layers supporting each other. These layers include telecommunications lines, hardware, operating systems, software and productivity enhancement tools. It has been very successful, but the future will demand an even more dependable and secure system.
Like the private sector, government increasingly relies on electronic means to conduct its operations. It is these government operations that enable trade and commerce and support the delivery of our most basic services, including education, public safety and health care, as well as essential administrative functions such as issuance of professional licenses and payments to staff and vendors.
Perhaps even more important, a strong and secure national IT infrastructure is needed to protect citizen information, government and society at large. This threat is not hypothetical. In 2007, a cyber attack crippled the Estonian government, affecting its financial system and media Web sites over a two-week period. An attack of a much smaller magnitude on our economy could cost billions of dollars. Citing the inter-dependence and vulnerabilities in the nation's IT infrastructure, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff recently said:
"One of the threats that continues to materialize again and again in the private sector and in the government is the threat to our virtual world of cyberspace. It's a world in which we're not likely to see airplanes crashing into buildings, but we could see human and economic consequences that are on par with what this country tragically experienced on Sept. 11, 2001."
One of the reasons a cyber attack has the potential to be so destructive is that technology has made all aspects of our nation's public and private sectors totally interconnected and interdependent. We can leverage this for a new era of economic vitality, but we must also be committed and diligent in protecting it. The needs of our nation's digital infrastructure must be treated with the same sense of compelling urgency and strategic national interest as its traditional infrastructure.
The key difficulty we face now is how to secure the nation's technological infrastructure and to give America a competitive advantage.
Digital Interdependencies and Security Risks
Recognizing the increased interdependence between IT and other critical infrastructure, the growing use of electronic automation, and the critical importance of technology itself as a source and enabler of economic wealth raises several issues regarding the adequacy of digital security:
(1) Reduced personnel at remote sites make them more vulnerable to attack.
(2) Interconnecting automation and control systems with public data networks make them potentially accessible to individuals and organizations from anywhere in the world using an inexpensive computer and a modem.
(3) Use of unsecure networked electronic systems for metering, scheduling, trading or e-commerce imposes numerous financial risks.
As an example, it is envisioned that the electric power grid will move in the next decade from an electromechanically controlled system to one that is electronically controlled. The electrical infrastructure would then be increasingly intertwined with the IT infrastructure that supports it. Managed properly, digital technology can make a vital contribution to economic prosperity while enabling flexibility and agility and enhancing the resilience and security of our nation's critical infrastructure.
To move forward, the public sector must change the way it thinks of its technological investments Our digital networks must be viewed in the same way as "brick and mortar" infrastructure nationwide. Like roads and bridges, the IT infrastructure is critical to America's economic vitality and requires continuous maintenance, enhancement and upgrades.
There are three components to this shift:
(1) Recognizing the need to incorporate technology in the definition of the nation's core infrastructure.
(2) Building a governance structure and funding mechanism for ongoing maintenance, upgrades and modernization of IT infrastructure.
(3) Establishing a coherent strategy to leverage public-private partnerships in the IT sector.
Unfortunately, we only seem to notice infrastructure when it fails or causes delays or disruptions in our activities. We expect it to be in the background and not to interfere with our activities. Potholes in roads and degradation in bridges create risks for business and the public. Luckily, they are often visible enough that we know when they are broken.
With old IT infrastructure, which is continually subject to forced obsolescence by technological innovation, problems are often invisible to citizens and even to those within government who depend on and maintain those systems. While the threats and the risks in cyberspace are profound, the opportunity for transformation is perhaps even greater. This is why recognition of the new reality that IT is an integral part of America's core infrastructure is a crucial first step to building policies that create a comparative advantage for the country based on leveraging the nation's core competencies in technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The second component of the paradigm shift calls for establishing a governance structure that provides for life cycle planning and ongoing maintenance and upgrading of the government's IT infrastructure. Ideally, the full life cycle of government's vital brick and mortar infrastructure is planned in advance and money is collected and saved in anticipation of repair and replacement. The time has come to establish a similar governance structure for IT to replace the unplanned annual budgeting that occurs now.
Tomorrow's digital society will be built on secure and fast IT networks, disturbance-free electric power systems, and microprocessors — in smart refrigerators that automatically keep themselves stocked with your favorite foods, in smart door locks that know who to let in and when, smart shoes that monitor your daily exercise and physical condition, smart wallets, smart curtains, smart toothbrushes, and smart cereal boxes. Adequate microprocessors now cost just a few dollars; before long, the price will be a few cents or less. The catch is their availability, along with the need for reliable and clean power. Unprotected microprocessors demand perfect power to function properly. Given economic, environmental and quality-of-life issues and the ever-increasing interdependencies among infrastructures, a key challenge before us is whether the IT and electricity infrastructures will evolve to become the primary support for the 21st century's digital society.
Finally, we need a coherent strategy that leverages public-private partnerships in the technology sector so that our businesses can compete globally and citizens can be served by government anytime, anywhere. There are a variety of funding mechanisms to choose from, and no single mechanism is obviously the best choice; each has advantages and disadvantages. Bonding and vendor financing are just a couple of innovative mechanisms that should be considered along with an entrepreneurial governance structure that can effectively leverage public-private partnerships in this highly inventive and still evolving sector.
We must go forward with strong support for addressing the nation's traditional infrastructure needs. This is critical. But as we design and implement strategies for smarter, more cost-effective infrastructure investments, let's not overlook information technology, a critical element of the nation's ability to compete. America's security and future depend on it.
Gopal Khanna is the chief information officer for the state of Minnesota. He currently serves as the 2008-2009 president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO).