User-configurable, autonomous, no-code software agents will become increasingly necessary to manage the complexities of all our digital lives. More apps, more services, more generative-AI, and more cybersecurity threats combine with the endemic theft of private user data to create a situation in which we all need assistance. Software agents that we trust and configure can manage our cybersecurity, identities, and passwords. They can automate our homes and our basic household chores. They can make our digital lives more livable. 

Telemedicine, remote work, and distance learning. This trio has long been the mantra for the social good that bridging the digital divide brings to humanity. It may be tempting to underestimate how important these benefits are, but the years of the pandemic have taught us that these social goods are real, they are here to stay, and they are more important than ever, to underserved, remote, and disadvantaged communities everywhere. 

Democratized and open-source access to quality data sets. Academic researchers are in the business of shining the light of truth on the world and making that information widely and freely available. However, for corporations, in our current internet economy, data has become the new oil, and a few players have raced to control as much of this resource as they can. Restricting access to data is a recipe for eventual disaster. Stifled innovation, extreme moral hazard, manipulation of markets and institutions, and the unintended consequences of bias and inequity built into foundational algorithms that we increasingly rely on. Open up access to data to the very people that created it. They created that data by using the telecom networks, apps, and software that is the subject of data collection. The current generation, and the next, should not be locked out of their own data. 

PTC and its affiliates as well as its members see the value in the edge, recognize that historically underserved locations CAN be powerful drivers of innovation and growth, and who are ready to come together to create a more connected world. 

We believe connectivity is both a human right and an engine of growth. With access to education, healthcare, job opportunities, and technology services, local communities can exercise agency over their own destinies. That’s why PTC is a key stakeholder in the ongoing efforts to make equitable computing power a reality, at scale. Together with its members, we can provide communities the building blocks for a more sustainable, self-driven future. 

Transitioning from the energy sector to internet and data infrastructure has felt very natural. Communications is just as critical to our daily lives as is electricity. As demand for internet and data infrastructure continues to skyrocket around the world, the need for increasing investment in unserved communities (at the EDGE) means there will be incredible career opportunities now and for many years to come. It won’t require moving to the traditional global technology hubs. Many of you will find opportunities in your home regions and countries. 

Having been born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, and having the benefit of perspective from visiting my ancestral roots across the Hawaiian Islands. I am acutely aware of the pain and difficulties caused by lack of infrastructure in unserved, rural communities–from the top of the world, to small river and coastal river villages, to rural island communities in the Pacific Rim.