Digital Infrastructure… Is Your Community “Up to Speed”?

By The Policy Circle Team

Digital infrastructure has become not only a vital part of our lives, but also a necessary way of doing business, working from home, banking online, seeking health care and communicating with our governments and elected officials.  Yet most of us rely on the experts to understand how the digital infrastructure operates and how to keep it working. If a service interruption occurs, we trust that it will be handled by our provider. But what happens if your community is hit by a natural disaster, or is the victim of a malware ransom attack or a data breach and the whole community’s digital infrastructure is taken down?Communities in Maryland, Georgia, Washington, and Maine have suffered from such cyberattacks. Is your town prepared to get back up and running with minimal impact on your connectivity, safety and your community’s economic and social prosperity?  What about your personal information? Does your town have security in place to protect it?

The latest Policy Circle Brief on Digital Landscape is a good place to start to understand the government’s role in promoting digital infrastructure, and protecting data. The next step is to take it local and engage with leaders about their visions and priorities.  Look into who you can contact in your local community departments and offices who may concentrate on these issues.  Different towns, villages and cities have different names but you can search for Directors of Community Development, Economic Development or the Office of Emergency Management and Communication or Emergency Management.  Check with your town’s Business Association or Chamber of Commerce.

Some questions to ask your community leaders can be found in the Digital Landscape Policy Brief Discussion Guide.  Here are a few others:

• How is your local city data protected and online fraud prevented? 
• Does your community provide fast broadband services in an effort to attract and retain businesses?
• In a local or national emergency if the Internet went down, how would you get news and learn what resources are available? 

Click here for information on who is influencing the debate on the federal and state level.

The Policy Circle will dive deeper into these issues when it welcomes Circle Leaders and members from across the country to Chicago to pause, connect and learn about “Living and Leading in a Connected World” at the fourth annual Policy Circle Leadership Summit. Come with your circle members, colleagues, and neighbors.

New to the Policy Circle?  Read and share the Policy Brief Digital Landscape with your network and consider starting your own Policy Circle.  Circle Leaders, plan your next meeting with a local official go beyond the headlines to dive deeper into the facts. Register for the fourth annual Policy Circle Leadership Summit Nov 15th, 2019.