Setting the future in motion with Hawai‘i 2.0
Posted on Mar 1, 2021 in Capitol Connection, Featured
The Hawai‘i 2.0 initiative intends to develop a program of action for the state’s future, based on lessons learned from the pandemic.
How do you get buy-in from the entire state to make change happen? Part of the answer, Governor Ige said in his State of the State address, is to enlist the help of virtually every sector of the community to identify opportunities created by the pandemic. “We want to take the priorities we’ve already established and add the COVID lens,” he explained. “We want people to ask, ‘Have the past 13 months changed our priorities? What have we learned that could shape our future while preserving our island values?”
Key legislative, business, labor and community leaders are being contacted to lead the effort that will result in recommendations for specific actions and legislation for the 2022 session. The point is to seize the moment when people are receptive to change, and resources, such as federal funding, are available to support that change, said Mike McCartney, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment when we can have a broad community conversation about the kind of future we want,” he said. “The pandemic has accelerated change and forced us to look at life in new ways. Hawai‘i 2.0 is about balancing local and global economic change without losing our values. This is our chance take action.”