IT Challenges for 2009: Fixing the IT Infrastructure

R epairing the infrastructure—it’s not just about bridges and highways. With a new administration taking over in Washington this year, we need to focus our attention on the state of the information technology infrastructure here in the US. The IT infrastructure that has emerged over the past few decades largely drove economic growth during much of the 1990s and enabled our paradigm shift from a manufacturing economy to a service-based one, but its key areas have begun to show signs of aging. We can’t rebuild a healthy economy in the US and remain competitive abroad unless we improve and expand our infrastructure. In my opinion, we must focus on some specific critical areas: