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Administration's next challenge: Making 'digital divide' initiative stick

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 10:22 a.m. EDT (1422 GMT)

CHICAGO (CNN) -- Now that the promises of federal and business largesse have been made and several days worth of lofty proposals have been offered up, the Clinton Administration faces a new challenge in hurdling the so-called digital divide: Following up.

Administration officials appear quite aware of the skepticism that some may have about President Bill Clinton's proposals, especially since a new president will be in the White House in less than 10 months. But they point to another factor: The needs of the businesses that want to benefit from the new economy.

"There really is an enlightened self-interest in the industry to do these things," Tom Kalil, special assistant to the president on technology matters, said earlier this week.

Businesses "certainly don't have an interest in seeing PC penetration stay at 50 percent" in homes, Kalil said. "The number one constraint on growth is to hire the people with the skills they need."

Kalil's words echoed a theme repeated by administration officials for the past several days, as Clinton traveled from California to New Mexico to Illinois to argue his case that lower-income and rural residents must have ready access to modern telecommunications and computers.

"I believe we've got to find the right combination of incentives and initiatives to bridge this divide," Clinton said Tuesday in a speech at COMDEX, a major trade show for computer and electronics products in Chicago.

"If you believe that there is an equal distribution of intelligence, ability and dreams throughout the population, and if you have seen in your own lives what this has done for you and for this economy, it seems to me that closing the digital divide is one of the most important things we could do that would have the quickest results in alleviating the kind of poverty which is inexcusable in the kind of economy we're experiencing today," he said.

Administration officials appear to have no illusion that Clinton, with only months left in his last term, will have much success in reaching such lofty goals before he leaves office. And they also believe that a Republican presidential administration -- namely, a potential George W. Bush administration -- will not be as interested in government activism as a solution to the problem.

But administration officials say that in the end, it may be business that continues to force the issue to the forefront, for reasons that aren't all philanthropic. With unemployment at near-historic lows in many areas of the country, one of the few remaining solutions is to dig for workers elsewhere, administration officials believe -- namely, in areas that have not yet felt the economic boom.

The phrase "enlightened self-interest" has been used repeatedly by administration officials this week in describing the role of business. They believe, for example, that carefully targeted tax breaks and subsidies might also attract the interest of high-technology businesses on the issue. Under the theory, businesses will kick in money and technology to help close the divide because doing so can help create a pool of new employees and customers, and available government grants and tax breaks can further interest both business and the public.

"Once the technology is there, you can build on it," FCC Chairman William Kennard said earlier this week. "Businesses can then hook into those networks; community centers can hook into those networks; and that can be a catalyst."

"The high-tech industry is in a constant war for talent," Carly Fiorina, president of Hewlett-Packard, said in a California appearance with Clinton. "Whether it is Covad or Novell or Cisco or Sun or Hewlett-Packard or any of the other companies that are here in Silicon Valley, all of us worry first and foremost about finding enough talent."

Administration officials hope that simple fact will assure that Clinton's initiative will not fade, even after the president leaves office.

 
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