Virginias' Torchbearer
Stephen M. Case
America Online

Background: Case and America Online have been key leaders in the development of the Internet, not just on the technology side, but on the human side. They have greatly expanded the entire market by making the Internet and other online content more user friendly. As a result, AOL has grown from the fourth largest Internet service provider in the nation to the No. 1 Internet company in the world in just a few years.

Q: Everyone seems to agree that the Internet will change everything. What’s it like to lead a revolution that is so far-reaching?
A: The Internet today is remaking every facet of life: how we learn, how we speak, how we shop, how we think. We in this industry have been working hard to make the Internet a mass medium, but we also need to be sure we’re building a medium we can be proud of.

Q: What would make you most proud of the Internet?
A: I believe the Internet is all about building human connections where none existed before. It’s about creating spaces where people of every possible background, every class and color, can meet and mix. It’s about finding new ways for people to work together, develop respect for each other, build trust.

Q: Will the Internet become "the great equalizer?"
A: I hope so. Yet only 10 percent of the poorest families in this country have computers. The divide between the haves and have-nots seems to be widening. It is up to us, together, to ensure that we do not compound this inequity by overlaying onto it a "digital divide." We can’t allow the educational, economic, consumer and social benefits of this technology to remain beyond the reach of those who need them the most. The good news is that computer and Internet usage is growing among all groups in our society — and indeed women are now outpacing men — but there are alarming gaps based on income, race, ethnicity and geography.

Q: Are you saying that the Internet can solve all of our socio-economic problems?
A: It may not be in the Internet’s power to bridge the country’s opportunity gap single-handedly. But it offers an important opportunity to take a quantum leap forward. It is a moral responsibility for all of us to grab that opportunity. When we created America Online, we were only beginning to imagine just how valuable and powerful this tool would be. But we did understand that focusing on people and building a sense of community and building a more connected society would translate to more opportunities and empowerment for more parts of our society.

Q: So what’s the next step?
A: The American work force must be prepared for the new economy. Estimates show that Northern Virginia will need an additional 112,000 high-tech workers over the next five years. Yet today only 38 percent of people who apply for technical positions have the skills necessary to do those jobs. Couple that with the substantial decline in the proportion of minority graduates with engineering degrees, and there is reason for concern. Americans are not yet prepared for the technology-driven workplace. And we are especially in danger of leaving those on the wrong side of the digital divide even further behind, virtually walling them off from the 21st century job market. That’s why we support efforts to develop a diverse work force with students who are skilled in math, science and technology, and not only those students who are engineers, but also humanities graduates — like me. Together, we must develop a strategy to ensure that we raise a generation of kids who are ready to join the high-tech work force of the future.