Economic stimulus

A new American administration—and a new era—begin today. Our country and our planet face daunting challenges, and our leaders are pursuing ambitious plans. We wish them the best, for all our sakes.

But the mandate for change applies to the rest of us, too—the people of America, and of the world. The challenges and opportunities ahead of us are far too large, various and inherently global for any government, industry or nation to tackle alone. It will take all of civil society to transform the way the world works. And the good news is, we can. This goes far beyond repairing the old economy. We can now prepare a new one, for the 21st century. We can do so because our planet isn't just getting smaller and "flatter," it's also becoming smarter.

We're often told about the hard choices that confront us, the urgent priorities we'll need to put on hold. And certainly, tough calls will have to be made. But let's be sure we make the right ones. Let's not base our thinking on outdated distinctions.

In the past, we had to make trade-offs between the imperatives of energy, transportation, infrastructure, security, commerce, the environment and more. But in an ever-more interconnected world, these vast, complex systems are no longer separate from one another. They are now interwoven and interdependent. Which is good news—because the solutions we develop for one system will ripple across many others.

Those solutions are possible because we now have the tools to literally change the way the world works. Computational power is being put into things we wouldn't recognize as computers: phones, cameras, cars, appliances, roadways, power lines, clothes. We are interconnecting all of this through the Internet, which has come of age. And we are applying sophisticated analytics to make sense of the world's digital knowledge and pulse.

As we look at investments to stimulate our economies, we have a lot more options and can get a lot more bang for our buck. We can ask ourselves: Do we want an airport, or a smart airport? A highway, or a smart highway? A hospital, or a smart hospital? We can think about new industries and societal benefits spawned by a smart power grid, a smart water system, a smart city. About how innovation across all these systems will multiply the number of new jobs and spread new skills.

What if we could simultaneously help cut gridlock, reduce emissions and increase use of public transportation? Smart traffic systems can. They're doing so already in Stockholm, Singapore and Brisbane. What if we could improve the quality and reduce the costs of what we eat? Smart food systems in Norway are using RFID technology to trace meat and poultry from the farm through the supply chain to supermarket shelves.

What if we could lower the cost of therapy for chronic diseases as much as 90%? Smart healthcare systems in the U.S. are. Other smart systems are helping to transform telecommunications networks and supply chains, the safety of pharmaceuticals and the security of currency exchanges.

There is a tremendous mandate today for positive change, and this moment will not last forever. Let's seize it—not simply to fix a flawed past, but to build a smarter future. Because when you think about it, today really is an inauguration day... for all of us.