Improving the Practice of Public Policy

[Commentary] Public policy is so frenetic nowadays that it is hard to focus beyond the latest proposal or… tweet. But talking strategically was my assignment as a plenary speaker at the recent Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide (PPDD) conference in San Diego. Admittedly, I appreciated the challenge to think about effective public policy development, the bigger picture and the long term—perspectives that have become scarce here in Washington. An examination of public policy addressing the digital divide is especially timely as it expands in new dimensions. In particular, advancing economic opportunity, such as enabled through the sharing economy and entrepreneurship, depends on the ability to integrate and leverage digital tools and services with the physical world—and ameliorating this digital divide is a major new focus here at the American Library Association.
[Alan S. Inouye leads technology policy for the American Library Association.]