Policymakers must focus more on spurring broadband adoption if th...

2008 presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and is considering a run for the U.S. Senate in California. The $7.2 billion broadband infrastructure program may not be as effective at improving penetration as the government hopes, Fiorina said. “Simply throwing money at technology doesn’t work,” she said. “You can spend a lot of money and not get a lot to show for it.” More attention must be paid to demand-side factors, she said. “It’s not quite as simple as, ‘If we build it, they will come,'” she said. “For technology to be deployed most effectively, the underlying processes and practices and habits have to change. Otherwise what you're doing is just adding a layer of complexity and expense on top of what already exists.” Congress specified only about $200 million of the stimulus money for spurring adoption, noted Scott Wallsten, a vice president with the institute. And the program focuses mostly on rural areas, even though the most severe adoption problems are in low-income urban areas, he said. Even if the program is effective at deploying broadband throughout the country, “you're not going to get much of a boost in broadband penetration at all,” he said. Fiorina applauded increased emphasis on technology in Washington, but warned that technology “is a place where the details matter” and “emotions can run high” when it’s tied to other issues like healthcare and education. Collecting objective research and analysis will be key to making good policy, she said.