We are in the midst of a technological revolution. Don't believe me?
There's a video on YouTube where, then Today Show hosts, Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel are asking the question "what is the internet, anyway?".
That was in 1994.
Fifteen years later in 2009, the question was "what's a bitcoin?"
A little more than a decade has gone by since then, and now the questions is "how can I get some bitcoins?".
Not only that, national financial news programs are talking about Bitcoin as part of their regular programming. Acronyms like, IoT (internet of things), AML (anti-money laundering), KYC (know your customer), NFT (non-fungible token) and HODL (hold spelled incorrectly) are starting to weave their way into our language.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Well, we now know that Bitcoin (a cryptocurrency) is the software that runs on a network called distributed ledger technology (DLT) or Blockchain Technology.
DLT is not a new concept, in fact, it's ancient. Simply put, it's an old accounting system that has been updated and made digital. Going forward, it's how money, and really anything deemed "of-value", will move in the internet.
DLT or Blockchain Technology is quickly being adopted by large tech firms like IBM, auto makers like Diamler, and major financial firms like J.P. Morgan, BlackRock and Fidelity.
As these new technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence are becoming incorporated into our new post-COVID lives, how do we function as employees, entrepreneurs and artist. What does the new labor market look like, and how do we get the middle class and underserved communities back to work when new tech has made them obsolete? Especially communities of color.
My friends at Brooking Institute have a few ideas.
Nicol Turner Lee, a Senior Brookings Fellow and Author of the upcoming book 'Digital Invisible', hosted a panel entitled, 'Why Black America Needs A Tech New Deal' that answered some of these questions, and asked a few more.
If I were you, I would watch.
Comments