 is
the former executive director of the Acceleration
Studies Foundation, the non-profit organization
that organized the Metaverse Roadmap Summit. She
is working on a master's degree in
business administration at the University of
California-Irvine.
What is your most
fervent hope for the future of networked
technologies? My most fervent wish for
the future of networked technology is that it
just serves the people to better meet our needs.
Technology is useless unless it helps people
… it is really just a tool for humans to
achieve their needs. There are different levels
of needs and technology changes. People at the
bottom of the hierarchy just need shelter and
security and food, and technology has helped a
lot of people reach that level but not everyone
yet. As we go along, technology is going to meet
our needs to be social and get along with other
people and finally to self-actualize and really
do jobs that make us happy and really do things
we're really happy about that we can
contribute with. What technology
will have the greatest impact on our everyday
lives the next 10 years? The most
interesting, the biggest technological change
will happen when the billions of people who
don't have access to almost any electronic
technology are going to get wireless, satellite,
internet laptop computers for only $100. There
are some fascinating companies and non-profits
that are developing the $100 laptop project. When
those people come online and have access to
education, the whole world is going to
change. Looking out more
than 10 years, what development will have the
greatest impact on society? One of the
most important technological developments over
the horizon is going to be our ability to
constantly look at the companies we're buying
from and investing in and see what kind of
socially responsible decisions they're
making. John Smart actually calls this the
"valuecosm." It’s the idea that
you're going to be able to tell your avatar
or program your computer to say I'm only
going to buy milk or soy milk from companies that
have this labor policy or that they invest only
in this kind of socially responsible business.
Right now people invest in companies or support
companies that don't contribute beneficially
to the world because they're too lazy or its
too hard - they don't even publish that kind
of information. Once that information becomes
ubiquitous and we have access to it, we'll be
able to change the world with our money, with our
buying power and with our investing decisions.
I'm really excited about that. What do you think
policymakers should do to ensure a positive
future for networked technologies? The
best thing they could do to ensure a good future
overall for the network and for other people is
to invest in education. You have to have educated
users to make good virtual worlds or a good real
world, and if you're not investing the money
to make kids aware of how the world works and
teach basic skills, then you're really not
going to get anywhere. | 
