2021 Is the Time to Drive Innovation and Grow RI’s Economy - Fenton-Fung

Monday, January 18, 2021

Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, Guest MINDSETTER™

 

View Larger +

State Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung

As much as 2020 was the year of utter calamity, 2021 has the possibility of being the year of immense creation. FDR tackled a national crisis in ways that addressed larger problems, and set the stage for nearly three decades of growth. Seeing the post-COVID world speed up before us, it's important for Rhode Island to be ready to ride the wave of digital innovation that has been ushered in during our tribulations. It is the right time to foster smart-city technologies that will fundamentally improve our enjoyment of life and the way our cities do business.  

First off, we must rapidly expand 5G digital service statewide. How can we expect our seniors to participate in telehealth appointments, our children to engage in high quality video instruction during distance learning, or our workforce maintain productivity in disruptive times if we do not have high quality internet access across our tiny state?  We cannot have the next abyss in our nation be a digital divide - it is an essential utility that we must enable all of our residents to enjoy.  

This also means partnering with HUD to help our public housing authorities provide affordable internet access.  Imagine improving public health for our seniors and disabled while lowering expenses on things like ambulance runs if we could enable them to interface with telehealth practitioners - while utilizing smart blood pressure, anticoagulant, or blood sugar monitors - inside their apartment? Additionally, could you imagine the improved social connectivity of these seniors, effectively in isolation during COVID, if they could participate in Zoom family get-togethers daily? We need to look at the bigger pictures of public health and realize that internet access is going to be synonymous with the next decade of healthy living measures.  

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

While bringing internet connectivity up to par, it is also important that we develop plans to foster practical uses of 5G technology - including connected transportation & driverless vehicles. One in six Rhode Islanders is 65 or older.  As a former home health practitioner, I have been in the homes of so many seniors who are quite isolated due to the inability to safely drive any longer.  Many in suburban communities cannot access bus routes, whose interval stops may not be practical for the mobility challenged. This means the inability to shop for the essentials, and also results in tremendous isolation, which leads to depression and exacerbation of dementia symptoms.  Imagine if your parents could just hop in a driverless car at the age of 80 and go to visit their friends, get to the park for a concert, or get to the dentist without any safety concerns? The health and safety benefits for a community would be astounding. It is also an excellent arena in which to target public-private partnerships for complicated regulatory and development matters.    

Finally, at the state level we should be actively funding measures for cities and towns to upgrade their cybersecurity practices in order to give their residents more confidence.  As many municipalities in the region have had systems compromised over the past five years, it's imperative that they adopt digital payment and other essential online services that are secure. This isn't cheap, and some communities are much more advanced than others. Strategic investments in cybersecurity are important for our business community and residents alike.  

Let's put RI on its toes, and not on its heels, as we enter the fourth industrial revolution.  

Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung is the State Representative from District 15 - Western Cranston, and holds two Masters Degrees in Digital Media Management & Physical Therapy.  
 

Editor's Note: She is not related to GoLocal co-founder and CEO Josh Fenton
 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook