From September 9, 1777 to June 30, 1778, the first New York State Legislature convened in Kingston New York. And that time, mail was being transported by foot or horseback. The lawmakers traveled to Kingston by horse. The automobile, airplane and telephone have yet to be invented.

The lawmakers in 1777 could not imagine traveling to the state Capitol from Queens by personal vehicle within three hours. They could not imagine sending a letter or package to another part of the country and it arriving same day. They could not have imagined having a device that fits in your pocket that communicates instantly with anyone else with a similar device.

Similarly today, we are in a space and time where there is massive transition. How we communicate, how we travel, how we live our every day, is going to change drastically the next five to ten years. As a State, New York's infrastructure and capacity must be ready for these changes.

In 2030, transportation will be drastically different. Artificial intelligence-guided transportation will include self-driving vehicles, driverless delivery trucks, autonomous delivery drones and personal robots. Robots that deliver packages and clean offices will become commonplace. Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency will change the way we transact business, execute contracts and vote.

By 2030, artificial intelligence will have a drastic impact on health care. Personalized medicine will become more of a reality. Data from patient records, wearables, mobile apps, and personal genome sequencing will provide information unseen before. Intelligent exoskeletons, wheelchairs and walkers will help keep the seniors active and smart homes can help to support their independence.

Education will benefit greatly with the new technologies. Massive open online courses will interact with intelligent tutors and other artificial intelligence technologies to allow personalize education at scale. Virtual reality will allow students to immerse themselves in particular subject matter to increase the level of learning.

I am unsure if my predecessors in 1777 contemplated what New York would look like today. Today, however, we cannot afford to be unprepared for tomorrow. In New York State, we must ensure that our network and wireless capacity can handle future uses statewide. Our state must be ahead of the curve. We must be ready for the future. And in case you want to ask, you can't borrow my robot!