The growth of new technology and its impact on today’s society

Bowling Green, KY (June 8, 2021) - The final blog in this series looks at 2017 to the present. Although much progress has been made, we are still talking about a digital gap, and rural America is still trying to catch up. As of 2018, there were 3.9 billion internet users worldwide, but in 2020, 19 million Americans still lacked internet, with 14.5 million people residing in rural America.    

Technology is the leading globalization capitalization in 2017, and advertising is the big winner. Companies are finding innovative ways to use mobile media to sell their products. 

This blog would be remiss not to mention the major advances in technology in the health care industry. We have gone from in-person office visits to monitor and diagnose correct symptoms to monitoring your blood pressure and temperature from your mobile phone app. These on-the-body monitors can report directly back to your doctor, saving you a trip for routine care. This has made health care one of the most innovative sectors in the 2000 technology era.

Just to give you a quick list of how technology has changed the health care industry, we now have 3D X-ray, wearable/digital ECG, automatic/digital blood pressure machines, and remote/digital hospital monitoring. There are wrist sensors that can track your heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, and tell you when to get up and walk around. The health and wellbeing industry has an app for every need – weight loss, diet and nutrition, stress relief, and fitness. We do not know all the benefits technology in the health care industry will give us, but we do know it opens opportunity for people who may not live near medical services receive the help they need.

Connected Nation has been around for these last 2 decades and knows that for all Americans to enjoy the progress, they must be connected to broadband. Our mission will remain the same: Everyone belongs in a Connected Nation.

About the Author: Pam Waggoner is a Community Technology Advisor for Connected Nation. She coordinates and manages the activities of planning teams in support of Connected Nation’s Connected Community Engagement Program and the development of community-specific community team creation, data gathering, and technology action planning.