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Sunday 14 June 2009

Signs of Life from OSTP

By Suki Kott on Sunday 14 June 2009, 19:44

tech_obama.jpgI gave up on the Office of Science and Technology Policy web site years ago. I remember prowling around the site looking for information in vain. The web site itself was clunky and listed only press releases and news. There was no sense of... action, or movement. It was clear that tech policy was not on the Bush Administration's radar.

But now... we have change we can believe in:

Launched on April 22, the updated site has a blog that is a virtual party in comparison. Through the blog, the agency has been actively soliciting participation from the public in their three-phase open government initiative.

What thrills me about this change of direction is that not only is the department setting policy on technology and science (as they've always done), but now they're using technology to make policy in a collaborative and informative manner. Through continuous requests for comment they are tapping into the experience and wisdom of anyone who chooses to participate. It's surprisingly innovative for a government agency.

So if you're reading this, please visit the site, register, and join in to help create policy.

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Friday 16 January 2009

Tech and The Recovery Bill

By Suki Kott on Friday 16 January 2009, 13:03

by Matti Mattila on FlickrWe're in the money... Actually we're going further into debt. Read more about technology and the stimulus package in my commentary at TechPolicyCentral.

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Tuesday 11 November 2008

Obama's Tech Platform

By Suki Kott on Tuesday 11 November 2008, 23:24

by Barack Obama on Flickr I was going to do a thorough write-up on Obama's proposed approach towards technology, but I can't be more thorough than the the president elect himself, so instead I'm including a couple of links and a video of his presentation of his tech policy platform.

Unlike a lot of campaign speeches I heard Obama give, where he said what he wanted to change but not how he would go about making the change, he did outline some specific plans regarding technology and innovation such as immigration reform, making permanent the R&D tax credit, and making science and math education a priority. Also on his platform are infrastructure items such as broadband access and the smart grid.

He also proposes a push to electronic health records (great in theory but in practice could be downright scary,) and more transparency in government (a refreshing change from the Bush administration).

Being that Obama launched this policy in November of 2007, some things are sure to change. For instance, by the time he's inaugurated I'm not sure the country will be able to come up with the $150 Billion he pledged to clean energy projects.

For more info see TechCrunch's overview, the platform write-up on Obama's campaign site, or even the following video of Barack explaining it himself:


Blueprint For Change: Technology

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