Abstract:

The exciting, entrepreneurial world of emerging technologies is perceived by many to be far removed from government intervention and control. In fact, the role of government in affecting new technologies is pervasive; often for good, sometimes for bad. In this chapter, I review the variety of ways in which government actions profoundly influence technology outcomes. The major part of the paper is a review of the history of the Internet and its likely near-term trajectory and the role public policy has played in this development. This review reveals that the government role in the Internet is largely a success story. While this may come as a surprise to today's commentators, it is unlikely that the Internet would exist today without government actions over the last 25 years.

This article will appear in a chapter of the forthcoming book, "Wharton on Emerging Technologies."