Visions: To begin, you have a reaction to a recent article in Government Technology magazine that suggested government online services might be offered through private-sector portals. What is your idea about how to best deliver these services?
Upson: It was your article that prompted it, because the people controlling the thinking in terms of the Information Age and the Internet are the people that dominate the market and have all the money and own the giant portals. To me, the great shackled, the hidden secret of the Internet just may be that it isn't about no boundaries, that it is indeed about the most important boundaries. That, in fact, the secret of the Internet may be its ability to reinforce thousands of community boundaries, and the way to access government, commercial, community and education services within and outside the community is through the community portal. To me, that ought to be the objective of government.
The one thing that communities have in common all over this country, and in countries all over the world, is their desire to participate in the Information Age and their fear that they are being left out. That is why they are all building tech parks. I'm so sick of going to communities and seeing tech parks, whether they are here or in Mexico. It's like if they build it and put in broadband they are all going to be fat and happy. If the philosophy changes from accessing everything through this borderless concept that was described in the article to, "Let's access Richmond and Washington through Abington or Arlington or Charlottesville," rather than the other way around, then I think we've done something significant. We have set in motion a plan for every community, every citizen, every business to participate. We truly do more than talk about this thing called the digital divide.
If we were to put content and a philosophy and a vision and an implementation plan behind that kind of agenda, do you know what you would get? That broadband network that everybody claims is important. But instead of "build it and they will come," you're building it because you need it.
Visions: How far away are we from the environment that you are describing and what is standing in the way right now?
Upson: Standing in the way is a notion that is becoming concrete -- that it is a world without borders. I'm not convinced, for example, that the Internet pushes power, choice and control to individuals. The status quo that we've lived with for decades -- and has evolved over decades -- says that power goes from local government to state government to Washington. I don't believe that the larger entities know how to focus on communities. The challenge is to do that. Somebody has to set an example. That really is what we've tried to put in place in terms of our Electronic Communities Initiative in getting state government people working with local government people.
Visions: Describe the concept of electronic communities.
Upson: We brought together local government leaders. When you talk about the glue that binds, the reason local governments are left out of the loop is that there are thousands of them. I hate to use a clich
