Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1386104
46 I ICT TODAY CONCLUSION Edge data center locations make them prime contenders to solve the digital divide and provide critical services to rural areas. Precision agriculture advancements have turned fields into high tech environments, much like manufacturing. The data stored in these locations provide valuable information. Connectivity services offered by rural edge environments also provide needed connectivity for farms, families, and rural healthcare and manufacturing facilities. Urban areas can benefit from a more distributed (closer to the user) model. Edge data centers can also function as onramps to public cloud services curtailing transactional-based costs for local entities. Smart telecommunications patent. She was recently named in the top 10 Most Influential Women in Technology 2020 by Analytics Insight, honored as a Network Computing Inspiration Award finalist 2020, IMason 100 Finalist, and Comptia Women in Leadership Spotlight Finalist. Carrie can be reached at carrieg@StrategITcom.com. REFERENCES: 1. "Farm and Computer Usage and Ownership," USDA, August 2019. 2. "Bridging the Digital Divide for All Americans," FCC, https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/fcc-initiatives/bridging-digital- divide-all-americans. 3. "Understanding the Unconnected," STL Partners.com, January 2019 4. "The 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects," Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), New York, 16 May 2018. https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/ population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization- prospects.html. 5. Alsop, Thomas. "Number of Mobile Wireless Cell Sites in the United States from 2000 to 2019," Statista, 22 September 2021. 6. Preeti Wadhwani, Saloni Gankar. "Edge Data Center Market Size by Component," Global Market Insights, September 2020. https://www.gminsights.com/industry- analysis/edge-data-center-market. 7. Image courtesy of Velocity Data Centers. Distributed computing is inevitable due to the demands of applications and users at the edge. cities/smart communities benefit from the enhanced services that can be served through these EDCs. These services include everything from public safety to EV charging for electric vehicles, surveillance, event services, Wi-Fi connectivity, transportation scheduling in real time, and a myriad of other benefits. One thing is certain; as these EDCs are deployed, there will be growth in the applications that use them and more innovative solutions in the quest to bridge the digital divide. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Carrie Goetz, RCDD, NTS, PSP, CNID, CDCP, CSM-Agile, AWS CCP, is the principal and CTO of StrategITcom. She personifies nearly 40 years of global experience designing, running and auditing, data centers, IT departments, and intelligent buildings. She is an international keynote speaker and is published in 69 countries in over 250 publications. She holds an honorary doctorate in Mission Critical Operations and is a Master Infrastructure Mason with 40-plus certifications throughout her career. Carrie is on the Women in Critical Operations (WiMCO) national education committee and a long-time participant in 7x24 Exchange, AFCOM, and Data Center Institute board of advisors, Mission Critical Advisory Board, Women in Data Centers, Cnet Technical Curriculum Advisory Board, Vice Chairwoman and Liaison for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for the American Advanced Technology and Cybersecurity University (AATC University), a member of Women in BICSI, and an Education committee member. She champions STEM education through outreach projects and her podcast series. Carrie is fractional CTO to multiple companies. She holds one