Brad Smith, president of Microsoft Corporation, and chief legal officer, spoke to a full crowd at Marquette University recently for a conversation with journalist Mike Gousha and his series, On the Issues Events.
Smith, a lawyer by trade has always had a love for computing. The Appleton native has been with Microsoft since 1993. He spoke to a large crowd at Marquette about technology and where things are going in our future.
“Technology is changing rapidly. Part of it, is computing is going to the cloud, so we say. We’re relaying increasing on data centers. The other thing that is happening is that we’re using more devices in our lives. There is technology going forward in how we interact with computing,” Smith said.
Gousha and Smith did talk about access to technology, specifically in Wisconsin, what experts call “digital inclusion.”
Smith said, “If you look at a map of Wisconsin, and look at what the state has put out in terms of wireless, broadband access…you see in the Southeastern part of the state a high-speed broadband access and you see in the northern part of the state, no broadband wireless access at all. Ultimately, I think the bigger question is providing people with access to digital skills.”
Smith talked about other countries and how the United States compares in providing opportunities for youth to be engaged in the technology and digital fields.
For the full conversation, see the video here.
