Obama on Technology and Innovation

OBAMA ON TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) released his "comprehensive technology and innovation plan" on Wednesday. It would: 1) Ensure the full and free exchange of information among Americans through an open Internet and diverse media outlets: a) "Network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others." Sen Obama promised to protect the Internet's traditional openness to innovation and creativity and ensure that it remains a platform for free speech. b) "The nation's rules ensuring diversity of media ownership are critical to the public interest and innovation that will benefit consumers and our democracy." Sen Obama promised to encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation's spectrum, and promote greater coverage of local issues and better responsiveness by broadcasters to the communities they serve. 2) Create a transparent and connected democracy: Sen Obama promised to use the most current technological tools available to make government less beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists and promote citizen participation in government decision-making by a) making government data available in accessible formats, b) Webcasting government meetings, c) online tracking of grants, contracts, earmarks, and lobbyist contacts with government officials, d) online town halls and e) employing blogs, wikis and social networking tools, to modernize internal, cross-agency, and public communication and information sharing. 3) Encourage the deployment of a modern communications infrastructure: a) Sen Obama promised to deploy next-generation broadband through universal service reform, spectrum management reform and encouraging public/private partnerships. 4) Employ technology and innovation to solve our nation's most pressing problems, including reducing the costs of health care, encouraging the development of new clean energy sources, and improving public safety. 5) Improve America's competitiveness.
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/InnovationTechnology.pdf
* Transformative Proposals from Obama
[Commentary] "Obama has thrown down a big gauntlet, policy-wise. He is pushing to break up the wireless gatekeepers, net neutrality will be a strong priority in his administration, and open government will allow citizens to generate new sources of political power. I don't trust Obama's politics and I find his post-partisan rhetoric problematic, but I believe in organizing, and I believe that if he is willing to put the government on an open level playing field for all citizens while protecting our ability to access it, good things will happen. That's more than I can say about Clinton. It is tough to figure out where these candidates really do disagree, but on open networks, it seems like this is a clear line of demarcation."
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2369
* Obama Joins Technology Innovation Debate
[Commentary] "All in all, it's a dynamic, progressive platform. It would be nice if other candidates weighed in on these issues."
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1277
* Obama's tech vision: Blogs and wikis for the feds
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9816789-7.html?tag=nefd.top
* Obama Pays Visit To Google
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/15/MN5BTCBP4.DT...
* At Google Obama talks of shared experience
Obama tailored his speech to an Internet-savvy audience, portraying technology as vital to winning in the global economy and in areas like health care and clean energy. He pledged to post government data on the Internet "in universally accessible formats." Google has begun offering a suite of software products to rival those of Microsoft Corp that would benefit from such a government policy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1424609020071115?pageNu...