My dad has a tattoo of a battleship and flag on his arm. It's a little
worse for the wear, but he's still proud of it, and loves to tell the
story of how he got it in Shanghai during World War II. It might be more
appropriate for today's soldier, however, to illustrate his battles by
having a computer tattooed on his arm.
Rencently, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge noted in his address
to the American Enterprise Institute, "This is a war in which the
citizen and the scientist, the computer programmer and the cop on the
beat are as crucial to victory as the general, the admiral, the
sergeant, the private, or the ensign." The wars of our fathers were
fought with steel, today's wars will be fought with computer code. It's
long been speculated that terrorism may take the form of an electronic
attack that could shut down vital systems, power grids, communications
lines and networks. The result would be widespread panic and chaos, and
if the attack spread to the electronic systems of hospitals, law
enforcement and the military, it could very well lead to massive loss of
life.
There has always been close ties between the military and industry, and
today, there are close ties between the military and technology. Much of
the technology that powers today's e-businesses originated from
government and military research (including the Internet itself). The
world of e-business will be getting another boost from the new Homeland
Security Strategic Communications Resource (SECURE) Initiative,
announced by Secretary Ridge this month. Ridge has urged Congress to
pass the 2004 budget, which includes a research and development funding
increase of 60 percent, an increase that would make the Department of
Homeland Security one of the largest resources of research and
development funding, and would pour millions of dollars into the
development of new technology. The budget proposal includes $41.3
billion for the domestic fight against terrorism, which includes $350
million in infrastructure developments and technology architecture, and
$800 million to establish a science and technology clearing house for
collecting and analyzing private sector technology products and
research.
Much of e-business revolves around electronic communication and
information sharing, and once again, the government has taken the lead
in developing this technology. The SECURE initiative will let state and
local authorities funnel terrorist information to federal agencies, and
will let those federal agencies keep those authorities up to date.
SECURE also provides for security clearances and secure video and
telephone communications, which will be deployed to all states and
territories.
There are a number of other secure communications and information
sharing initiatives involved as well, but the bottom line is, Homeland
Security is leveraging technology to carry out its mission. In addition
to providing better security for our borders, this strategy is very
likely to have a positive side effect on e-business in terms of
providing newer technology that can be transformed from wartime to
peacetime uses. In this space, I've talked about the resurgence of the
tech industry - while the dotcom scene will never return to the frenzy
of the '90s, it will inevitably return to a healthy state of growth as
consumers and businesses demand more and better technology for
conducting business, communicating, and just day-to-day living. The new
budget, and the initiatives undertaken by Homeland Security merely
underscore the direction tech is taking, and will trigger the onset of,
perhaps not another "dotcom boom," but at least a "boomlet."
