Microsoft Director Sees Blueprint Emerging for Digital Inclusion in Cities

Maria E. Wynne is Senior Director of the Office of Economic Development and Innovation, U.S. Public Sector, for Microsoft. She is lead author of Power Up: The Campaign for Digital Inclusion, published this June. After nearly two decades at Xerox and at Ameritech, Wynne joined Microsoft four years ago. Most recently she was General Manager for the US State and Local organization. Her work on digital inclusion began in earnest last September, when her new role was approved by the Corporation.

Wynne believes that digital inclusion is best addressed at the community level, expressly by local leaders, and because, to be successful, there is a need for local leadership buy-in and partnering from private-sector and philanthropic organizations, as well as academic, nonprofit and other government entities-not necessarily a challenge best suited to be delegated to consultants or inserted into a Request for Proposals (RFP) for wireless infrastructure. Her interest is to create a blueprint around which municipalities can organize their digital-inclusion initiatives-to connect seniors and youth, ethnic minorities, and the marginalized-in a sustainable fashion.

Q: How did you determine that Microsoft could play a role in spurring US municipalities to take on digital inclusion?

A: I had been managing state and local government across the United States and found, in the executive levels of government, there were the infrastructure and IT issues that are common to running a business. But I also saw the struggle that many of our leaders had in addressing the digital divide; they were also common from one community to another. So I proposed that the Corporation create my job. I was approved to move forward with this and, gathering all my observations, began using the knowledge I had accumulated during my years of working with state and local-government leaders.

Q: What are your goals around digital inclusion at the community level?

A: I want to create a blueprint for cities to get started on digital inclusion-something that would be shared openly and would build upon the best approaches communities are developing across the United States. Municipalities should be able to arrive at a model that provides affordable access for the underserved and that is best suited for their demographic and socioeconomic state. There is at times a hope and a bit of naiveté on the part of the cities that the private-sector should shoulder the burden, but this is not necessarily a good foundation for sustainability. The challenge for cities will be to develop those models that in time can become citizen owned in order to provide long-term affordability and sustainability. Demographic inclusiveness is also part of that challenge.

Q: How do you view current efforts?

A: There are some very good focused efforts in several cities and communities addressing certain pockets of citizen needs and some very good ones addressing the needs of students. The issue, however, is that many of the existing efforts are not demographically comprehensive and not necessarily built to be sustainable over time. Some of the efforts are fragmented, start/stop initiatives dependent on small infusions of cash or funding. Some are "neighborhood" centric and are not built to scale and as a result are limited in their "portability." Over time, some of these efforts, while well meaning, will not survive. They are not designed to serve with the appropriate affordability, accessibility and relevant training modeled for a wider reaching demographic. The questions for those engaging in long-term digital inclusion planning involve looking at the demographic and socioeconomic conditions of a particular community and asking: How do we (local leaders) bring our citizens into the knowledge economy? How do we deal with the multiplicity of languages in our cities and the diversity of our people to provide relevant digital inclusion? What are the