Web site probes technology impact

DENVER — There’s a new think tank in town, and it’s ready to help you understand all this new technology.

The Center for Digital Culture launched a new, independent and interactive Web-based research resource on April 24 to observe the social, political and economic impacts of broadband and telecommunications technologies. The center, an initiative of Denver-based U S West, will examine and analyze the cultural ramifications of technology on the people who use it.

“We want to look at the ways technology is changing our lives,´ said Sam Smith, the center’s executive director. “It’s time to see how all the money spent on developing services and products is playing out in the global culture.”

The site, updated daily, includes a broad spectrum of perspectives. The center publishes special reports, news briefs and guest columns and has a message board. All are written by members of the center, businesspeople, professors, consultants and doctors. The information is geared toward just about everyone.

“Journalists can access the site to get a handle on new information, legislators can use it to help their constituents, consumers can learn more about what’s out there and small businesses can use the site to help find a way to fend for themselves in a changing market,” Smith said.

The center was the idea of Phil Burgess, corporate vice-president of communications at U S West. Last year, Burgess wrote a paper, “Bridging the Digital Divide,” for the Center for the New West. In researching the paper, Burgess found the most useful information came from companies like IBM, a pioneer in business-to-business e-commerce.

“What I realized is that when things are changing as rapidly as they do with the Internet, the people on the inside know the most,” Burgess said. “The most useful information doesn’t come from those who study it; it comes from those who do it everyday.”

Burgess convinced U S West that the center would be invaluable to the public and business and civic leaders trying to understand technology. The idea is novel, in that U S West also analyzes the impacts of its own technology, good and bad, but Burgess said the company recognized the benefits.

“The more the public understands the digital revolution, the better it is for everyone,” Burgess said. “People will understand why excess regulation and micromanaging is often ineffective, businesses can improve their business and rural areas can get ideas on how to plug into more urban areas.”

The center has a 10-member National Advisory Council with strong ties to academia, business and the public sector. Its initial special report addresses the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape and new advances in telemedicine, which is the combined use of telecommunications and computer technologies to improve health care services. Upcoming reports include the impact of the Internet on political elections, the benefits and challenges of telework, changes in consumer psychology from technology and class problems faced by the “digital divide.” Regardless of subject matter, the center is committed to substance, not spin; both technological advantages and disadvantages are analyzed and discussed.

For instance, the center plans to review and tour a virtual learning environment instituted by the University of Missouri on their Web site. Called “Virtual Harlem,” the environment depicts Harlem in the 1920s. The university is using the technology in conjunction with its African-American literature classes.

“It’s a great learning tool for classrooms and the technology has amazing implications,” Smith said. “But it also might have disadvantages. When cyber-hate groups like Neo-Nazis get their hands on it, it could bring a whole new — and frightening — level of reality.”

The Center for Digital Culture’s Web site is up and running at www.digitalculturecenter.org/

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