Technology and Community Engagement
Fifteen years ago, there was no easy way for large sections of the community to share their opinion without calling a meeting, voting, or going door-to-door. The terms "social media" or "smartphone" weren't part of our vernacular, largely because they didn't yet exist. The first Blackberry smartphone was introduced to the market in 2003 and the first iPhone was released in 2007. Facebook was launched in a college dorm room in 2004, while YouTube arrived in 2005 and Twitter just one year later in 2006.
Today, our smartphones, tablets, wearable technology and the apps they run connect us to the cloud and to each other in ways few would have imagined just 15 years ago.