Frank Nagle at Brookings writes:
As the pandemic has highlighted, our economy is increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure. As more and more in-person interactions have moved online, products like Zoom have become critical infrastructure supporting business meetings, classroom education, and even congressional hearings. Such communication technologies build on FOSS and rely on the FOSS that is deeply ingrained in the core of the internet. Even grocery shopping, one of the strongholds of brick and mortar retail, has seen an increased reliance on digital technology that allows higher-risk shoppers to pay someone to shop for them via apps like InstaCart (which itself relies on, and contributes to, FOSS).
As the pandemic has highlighted, our economy is increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure. As more and more in-person interactions have moved online, products like Zoom have become critical infrastructure supporting business meetings, classroom education, and even congressional hearings. Such communication technologies build on FOSS and rely on the FOSS that is deeply ingrained in the core of the internet. Even grocery shopping, one of the strongholds of brick and mortar retail, has seen an increased reliance on digital technology that allows higher-risk shoppers to pay someone to shop for them via apps like InstaCart (which itself relies on, and contributes to, FOSS).
