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Are You Tech Savvy?

Whether sending a package, reviewing one's bank account or managing a mutual fund, the skills needed to navigate today's information environment include daily interaction with a variety of technologies and interfaces.We may never achieve a paperless society, but filing cabinets and inter-office mail have largely given way to relational databases and instant messaging.If you're still clinging to pencil and paper, it's time to get your hands on a keyboard.

Wireless network signals now blanket many cities and Internet web browsers have migrated to our cell phones.Access to the ideas and commerce of the world are as close as we want them to be at our homes, libraries, schools, coffee shops and corner stores.For retailers, employers and organizations, web presence is not just cost cutting and convenient-it's absolutely vital to their future success and stability.Joining this digital conversation as customers, employees and citizens is no longer just a good idea--it's a prerequisite to real progress.

Two great ways to establish your own presence on the web are through creating an e-mail address, and beginning a web log, or blog, of your own thoughts, activities and accomplishments. The integrated services available at Yahoo! Google and many other places on the web allow users to create their own addresses in the networked world.

These sites provide a no-cost, easy-to-learn way to enter the digital age. Post a resume, share photos with friends, highlight your achievements or pursue your own special interests in a networked community of like-minded people.In a world where information is available to all through the click of a mouse button, it is crucial that you, too, have a link.

The sharing of information with friends and family through e-mail, videoconference, blog or YouTube video will help to hone the skills and techniques needed to navigate today's technology-oriented schools, workplaces and entertainment devices.The intuitive interface provided by computer operating systems, web sites and communication tools means no screen or gadget is insurmountable the low cost of PCs and network access make for a potent combination in the hands of those seeking knowledge and establishing communities.

Once the tools are in place and you've gained some comfort using them, you can begin making the connections that are a key benefit of our networked future.People, ideas and products find friends, fulfillment and marketplace success through their ability to interact and exchange.The technology needed to do so has become so commonplace we might soon not even notice it but those who don't learn to use and profit from those tools do so at their own peril.

It's time to reset that blinking 12:00 on all those devices in your home and start the clock ticking on your digital future.Jump in. You know what time it is!

Tom Morton