2025 Technology Outlook: Dan Watson

City Utilities’ SpringNet project brought fiber internet to much of Springfield. How have you seen high-speed fiber access impact the way companies do business locally?
It’s almost a 50-50 thing in that it’s been good and bad for local companies. Almost every time I’m out with STC, I meet someone who just moved here and works from home. I think having fiber in our area has definitely drawn people here, along with the cost of living and the fact that this is a great place to live. But there’s a little bit of a bad side to it. The people who live here have this great connectivity, so they can work for anybody. That creates some pressure on local businesses because their benefits packages need to be in line not necessarily with Springfield anymore, but with the whole country, and that’s very difficult for companies to do.

How are local companies approaching artificial intelligence?
Everybody wants more information on how to use it, how to embrace it and how to make it safe, but there really isn’t an expert out there yet. It’s been a buzzword for several years, but I think we’re at the point where we start really introducing it to businesses at mainstream speed. We have to make it safe first, but then I think we’ll really start seeing the benefits. Locally, Cheryl Hertel, a STC board member and vice president of strategy at CoxHealth, is looking at AI assistants for clinical workflows and thinking about the fusion of AI and biosensing technologies to support the trend of in-home hospital care. And in fintech, Nick Lofaro, executive vice president and (chief information officer) of Four States Bank, told me he expects to be focusing on regulatory compliance when it comes to AI.

What emerging threats did you see in cybersecurity, and how are companies addressing them?
Right now, it’s AI vs. AI in cybersecurity. All the bad actors are using AI to make more sophisticated, more dangerous and harder-to-find threats, and all of the security providers are using AI to thwart them. So, it’s going to be this tit for tat over the next year. As cybersecurity practitioners, most of us feel like we have the basics covered. We have a common base of practices we’ve done to be generally as secure as we can be, but the differentiator now is finding out what more we can afford. It’s a lot like insurance. You can always buy more of it, but how much do you really need? At what point do you accept that there’s always going to be some risk out there? Cybersecurity is getting to that point.

STC sponsored a study about discrimination facing women in technology for Springfield Women in Tech. What actions arose from those findings?
One thing that we as STC took away from it was the need to address imposter syndrome. In the 2023 survey, 78% of men and women said they experienced imposter syndrome. Then, in 2024, that went up to 82% of men and 89% of women. The findings on bias and discrimination – it is upsetting that we still have to deal with this. The good news is that women are overall eager to stay in tech, and I think it’s up to us to make them feel comfortable and supported. Women in Tech are planning their 2025 programming, but they have pulled discussion and networking topics straight from the action items in that report, and they’re building events and programs around those themes, including the need for mentorship. The report is a great tool. I’m glad we’ve done it multiple years. It is just a little bit sobering to realize that we’re not there yet, not even a little.