Opinion

Event can help area prepare for the future

Tuesday, January 15, 2002

The city of McCook and the state of Nebraska have been linked to technology since the beginning of modern history.

Nebraska became a state largely because of the expanding transcontinental railroad, and McCook's birth was connected to the railroad as well.

"Communications" and "transportation," which once were the same, began to mean separate things with the invention of the telegraph which accompanied those early railroads.

Transportation is vital for those who need to ship agricultural products or receive manufactured goods, and highways and airways supplemented rail in meeting that need.

The telegraph, in turn, has been supplanted by the telephone, radio, television, microwave, cellular phone, Internet, e-mail, fiber optics, satellite signals -- a baffling array of communication options.

And, as we have moved to an information economy, the line between communication and physical commerce has become blurred. Not only are many physical items ordered over the Internet, but more and more products -- digital music and software, for instance -- are delivered electronically.

Against this background, this week's conference at McCook College is being conducted at an appropriate time.

"Telefuture: Revitalizing Rural America With Technology," is being sponsored Wednesday and Thursday at the True Hall Gymnasium. It is sponsored by the McCook Economic Development Corp. and Southwest Nebraska Resource Conservation and Development District as well as the college.

According to U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne, "... technology is no longer optional. In order to thrive in the 21st century and beyond, a community needs a strong economy that is both diverse and dynamic. The first critical steps in the diversification of an economy are understanding and implementing the 21st century technology available to us. Infrastructure must be wedded to education in an application of technology in all businesses and every aspect of life."

Featured speaker will be Rick Symre, president of the Center for Communities of the Future in Gastonia, N.C., who will deliver speeches "So You Think You Understand What is Happening in the World," and "Preparing Your Rural Area for the 21st Century."

Other speakers will discuss the "silicon prairie," careers in rural Nebraska, customer care centers, telecommunications basics, business use of Internet and e-commerce and many other topics and break-out sessions.

From footpaths to wagon trains, railroad to airlines, rural Nebraska has always been able to stay in contact with the outside world without undue difficulty.

Thanks to new technologies, there is no reason McCook should be at an economic disadvantage.

This week's Telefuture conference can help us be ready to thrive in the coming years.

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