Time to Get Serious About the Digital Divide

The Digital Divide, that separates those with access to computers and who have digital literacy from those who do not, is one of the most serious problems facing Americans today. It impacts Americans working in local, regional, national, and international labor markets. It strains the economy. This is not a problem that might impact us if we do not act now, it is a problem that is already felt as America retreats from its history of innovation and technology-driven productivity. The Yankee Ingenuity that fueled our economy in the past can only become available again if we make it so that any American has the ability to achieve economic success. That success is now dependent upon an ever rising level of personal competence as well as higher levels of access to high-performance networks and the resources that live on them. We must halt the growth of the rising underclass of digital have-nots as well as boost the general digital capacity of the nation that has not enough to compete in a global economy.

To Build or Buy?

To build or to buy? We need to put this old chestnut to rest. You can neither engineer nor acquire a business application without some of each. We gain efficiency in software development by building on top of commercial, open source, or internally shared assets. But we cannot implement an out-of-the box solution without significant customization. The question is better shaped as what components pre-built or custom-developed) are needed to achieve a given software solution, and what are the best methods of assembly. 

I have tried to refine my answer to this question--in both a methodological and a practical way--throughout my career. Today I continue that journey. I am engaged with v257 in creating solutions, solution architectures, and supporting the capability of IT organizations to work with Agility in designed and implementing their own solutions. We have found that collaborations among business partners and clients can yield significant success, especially once you set aside the no-go question of build-or-buy and start asking how to assemble the right-sized components into a solution.