What the Recent Past Teaches and Portends

摘要

When the United States entered World War Ⅱ 79 years ago this month, it embarked on an unprecedented period of change. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, traditional notions of work, education, security and every other aspect of life in America were pushed into a new reality. Today-albeit without a declared war-deployment of technology has created similar conditions for society-level change that the country must embrace. For the past year, in this column, I have called attention to a number of circumstances in which technology presents challenges and opportunities. This month I will recap those views to date, some evolutionary developments and progress that has been made over the last 12 months. I will also cast an eye toward prioritizing opportunities in 2021.