I was taken aback by email from devex on Monday that said "Buried in the $787 billion economic stimulus legislation ...is $286 million for technology upgrades at the U.S. Agency for International Development." I mean, USAID is the definition of "dinosaur". They'll never spend that much money well. But it was really driven home to me be by the article in Washington Technology which cut to the chase - "In a recently released study, research firm IDC estimates that the stimulus will generate more than $100.1 billion in technology spending during the next five years." I'm getting it. We're going to spend a lot of money on technology in the next few years. What do we do to make it worthwhile?

I really like the approach that Forum One is pitching - defining "shovel-ready" online, civic-infrastructure projects [disclaimer, though I no longer work there, I helped found Forum One, have great affection for the place, and have an ongoing financial interest. That said, this is still a good idea.] As Forum One CEO Chris Wolz explains, these initiatives will "enable governments, nonprofits, citizens and businesses to work together to solve important social problems." These are the modern equivalent of traditional infrastructure which has included "town halls, the highway system, and government R&D labs."

So far they've proposed five projects and are looking for ideas for five more. Here is the first batch: