Wednesday, January 21, 2009

SocialTimes.com

SocialTimes.com

White House’s New Blog, New Focus On Technology

Posted: 20 Jan 2009 12:51 PM PST

-Whitehouse Site Logo-New year, new president, new administration in the White House, and new focus on technology as an integral aspect of all the changes that lie ahead for President Obama’s term. Just this morning, Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and already we’ve seen some major updates and changes to the White House’s website.

Aside from a new face and a new blog, the administration’s goals for technology have been laid out on a dedicated page within the website. Nothing posted here seems to be surprising or different from what we’ve heard throughout Obama’s presidential campaign in the past year, but it is important to note some of the changes outlined by the new administration.

Many of them revolve around archiving Obama’s proposed improvements to the country through the use of technology, and that includes something we social media pundits have mentioned a lot in the week leading up to today’s inauguration–transparent communication between the government and the people through online mediums such as social networks like Twitter.

Of course, the expected continuation of Obama’s campaign use of online social media has spilled over into the new administration, with several issues at the forefront. From net neutrality to privacy issues surrounding not only citizen users of online social media but the government employees and administration members of Obama’s own team, there is risk involved with major legislative and cultural changes regarding technology overall. And while there are a slew of new media positions brought on to handle interactive communications online and information dissemination across the web, we’re still awaiting the announcement of who the nation’s first CTO will be.

Here’s a quick rundown of the other areas the new administration is hoping to improve through the use of technology:

Deploy a Modern Communications Infrastructure

A focus on nationwide broadband is likely part of this initiative.

Improve America’s Competitiveness

Includes promoting American business abroad, investing in University-based research and reforming the patent process, which could have large implications on the way in which web-based patent are used by companies within the legal system.

Prepare All our Children for the 21st Century Economy

Making math and science a priority and granting college aid for math and science students.

Prepare Adults for a Changing Economy

This could have an effect on the way web-based services and technology are addressed within the work field, as there ends to be a significant lag time for closing the gap between younger and older demographics when it comes to adoption rates regarding technological advances in the work force.

Employ Science, Technology and Innovation to Solve Our Nation’s Most Pressing Problems

This initiative will be used towards lowering health care costs, improving health through clean-tech, improving public safety through technology, and more.

No comments: