Obama Engages Voters with Techonology Policy
The Obama technology policy event on Tuesday in Reno is part of a larger outreach project inspired by a a committee in the Obama campaign working on telecom, media, and technology policy. Their goal is to launch a serious of events that engage voters on tech policy issues (Obama Technology Policy). An effort, that as far as I can tell, has never been attempted before by a presidential campaign. The outreach campaign ramps up this week with an event also scheduled at Carnegie Mellon University.
By all accounts, the John McCain Campaign has demonstrated a lack of interest in technology policy (McCain Technology Policy). In direct contrast to the Obama campaign which has taken a much more strategic interest in how technology can be deployed to maximize institutional efficiency, government transparency, privacy rights, investment in research and development (particularly in the area of renewable energy technologies), and education. While McCain’s policy does state the need for more education and investment in research and development, his general approach to tech policy, as it is to most other policy, is to favor deregulation as a general approach–certainly nothing new there. And I hope by now we’ve learned a little something about how well the market works everything out. As we’ve seen this week, sometimes the market fails. Letting the market work it out is just no longer an acceptable solution for anything except economic simulations.
The candidates’ approach to Net Neutrality, a big issue with bloggers like me, demonstrates the difference in their philosophies in general. McCain’s adviser on this issues is Chuck Fish, a former Time Warner executive. From artstechnica’s review:
Fish…warned against using regulation to impose any model on service providers, especially in advance of any evidence that discriminatory packet switching is causing pervasive harm. Instead, he suggested existing antitrust law could be used to address specific instances of misbehavior.
Obama’s adviser Daniel Weitzner, an MIT computer scientist who has stated: “I’d rather have a more open Internet at lower speeds than a faster Internet that has all sorts of discrimination built in.”
The Obama Campaign’s efforts at outreach on tech policy also highlight the democratic nature of his campaign. Not only is there a link on his policy site that urges visitors to tell the campaign what their tech policy is, there is also a link to a forum in which you can discuss it with others.
For more views on the presidential technology policies, visit TechCrunch and TechPresident (Democrats and Republicans).
Video of Obama’s Remarks to Google employees (more available on the Obama site):
Similar Posts:
- Reno Obama Technology Policy Panel Recap
- Obama Technology Policy Event in Reno
- Live Blogging First Presidential Debate In Reno: Part 1
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Anjeanette Damon has the event date listed incorrectly in her RGJ article http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080922/NEWS18/80922051&OAS_sitepage=news.rgj.com%2Fbreakingnews
Thanks, asked for a correction.
Totally off-topic, but what’s up with the video of Obama talking to Google being hosted on Brightcove?