Our Vision for Success - The Internet is becoming an increasingly vital tool in our society. More Americans are gong online to conduct such day-to-day activities as business transactions, personal correspondence, research and information-gathering. Each year, being digitally connected becomes even more critical to economic, educational, and social advancement of America's youth. Therefore, raising the level of digital inclusion for underserved populations by increasing the number of youth using and understanding technology tools is vitally important.

For children to reach their full potential in this new world, they must be comfortable and competent with using computers and their applications. As a nation, we have spent billions of dollars equipping schools, libraries and community centers with computers and Internet access. While necessary, this has been not been sufficient. To be competitive and have a realistic possibility to succeed in our times, youth must overcome the divide that seperates technology-savvy from the non technology-savvy. This is a multi-faceted divide with financial components, pshycological components and educational components, all of which need to be addressed to successfully give disadvateged youth the best chances to succeed in an economy with ever changing rules, where adaptability and evolution are key attributes for survival.

I am proud to have the chance to lead such a fantastic organization and carry on its extremely valuable mission. HCI is a great example of how public and private funds are used to directly benefit the entire society by fostering the intelligent growth of a key segment of the American economy, youth. It is not just about giving disadvantaged youth a chance, it's about giving them the best chance, and today the utilization and education of appropriate informatiom technologies must be considered as a primary success factor, at every education level in America.

Best wishes of success

President