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Which city is a good place to live? The answer has not altered all that much since the days when we all witnessed horse-drawn carriages rumbling along St. Joseph’s cobblestone streets.
Not yet regarding infrastructure, security, housing options, education standards, etc. But a significant component of the mix should be thought of as information technology.
To say that we unexpectedly found ourselves in the pandemic when everyone began working from home and attending classes is a bit of a cliché. The demand for connectivity—the ability to communicate with friends and colleagues who are located far away—has been evident since the days of the Pony Express.
However, if the fabled Pony Express has taught us anything, it is that technology is subject to quick change. Cities that you formerly considered to be the tip of your spear may soon lag behind.
St. Joseph, though, may fall prey to location and circumstance. In densely populated urban regions, private businesses are more likely to install contemporary equipment, in our opinion.
The deregulation of the telecommunications sector should now allow for more competition and access to cutting-edge technologies. It was there, but not at St. Joseph as quickly as it was everywhere. This may be somewhat our fault. Imagine how challenging it would be to deploy his 5G wireless network throughout the city if a St. Joseph neighborhood’s water tower antenna failed.
Our cities are susceptible to spiraling out of control. The population will not grow if technology cannot keep up, but if the population stays the same, there will be little chance of technical advancement.
During the pandemic, several of these gaps have become apparent. If St. Joseph is to fulfill his full potential in his 21st-century economy of Zoom meetings, e-commerce, and online education, these deficiencies must be fixed. Maybe we might think of information technology as a cross between a public utility and a commercial business. To get started, it might be necessary to have both public and private funding.
It is a good thing that technology advances rapidly. It begins to rise gradually but finally reaches a crescendo and arrives somewhere like St. He Joseph. This week, United Fiber, a Savannah-based company, announced intentions to invest $50 million to provide 36,000 households and businesses in St. Joseph with high-speed fiber broadband. This announcement generated a lot of enthusiasm. This demonstrates that if a city is to be considered livable and competitive in the modern world, its citizens and businesses must demand and deserve the newest technology and a wide range of possibilities.