Google Government - Obama's tech literate ideas on participatory democracy make good reading for Greens

The use of /"Google" as a adverb/verb/adjective is so 2008 I should first apologize for my sources. I was enthused to read about Obama's technology policy re: net neutrality, consumer and personal privacy measures including curbing abuses of government surveillance, and introducing copyright and patent reform for the information age. I preview a presentation of Obama's (followed by McCain's - in video, part 1) technology advisor at a conference before the 2008 election, with video links to watch it yourself (both have something to say). In fact, at the time, Clinton was still a candidate and declined to represent her policies at the debate, which says something to us about a possible past we no longer have to worry about. The questions asked by American academics and journalists later in part 1 & in part 2 are worthwhile pondering post-election here in Canada.
Especially relevant to the GPC and Canadians I think are the concepts of "Google Government", the idea that the internet has the potential to make government more open (think not needing a law degree to access "Freedom of Access" information and the ensuing behaviour modification that would follow) and of making democracy more participatory. I recall Obama quoting the adage that "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Hopefully that applies when he's looking for "clean coal".

“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.”
[Barack Obama, Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07]

The following is from Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2008 (http://www.cfp2008.org) with video links included:
"This year, the 18th annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference will focus on what constitutes technology policy. CFP: Technology Policy '08 is an opportunity to help shape public debate on those issues being made into laws and regulations and those technological infrastructures being developed. The direction of our technology policy impacts the choices we make about our national defense, our civil liberties during wartime, the future of American education, our national healthcare systems, and many other realms of policy discussed more prominently on the election trail. Policies ranging from spyware and national security, to ISP filtering and patent reform, e-voting to electronic medical records, and more will be addressed by expert panels of technologists, policymakers, business leaders, and advocates." (Quoted from http://www.cfp2008.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)

Presidential Technology Policy: Priorities for the Next Executive (http://www.cfp2008.org/wiki/index.php/Presidential...)
video, part 1: http://www.cfp2008.org/video/President052108_part1...
video, part 2: http://www.cfp2008.org/video/President052108_part2...

In part 1, MIT computer scientist and Obama technology advisor Daniel Weitzner talks about how Obama's grassroots rise to power attracted tech savvy supporters by both his openness to advice on IT and by the very nature of his dependance on the internet as an organizing tool. Describing the money strapped beginnings of Obama's campaign as "an approach I think many of you will know as a kind of eat your own dog-food approach", he gives hope to the hope-full-$$-less, even as many of us at the time of this writing can well remember the sacrifices that went into the last election campaign. While we may not match the historic racial barrier-breaking nature of the Democrats' 2008 run for office, this is approximately the kind of place the GPC is in with the next election perhaps as little as 18 months away - no access to Bay Street/Wall Street money/Ottawa/Washington traditional power brokers and less than 10% of the popular vote in a discriminatory system. We could learn a lot from what Obama has accomplished with good ideas and little money in one election cycle. Weitzner also has interesting things to say about Obama's IT policy, beginning with the overarching concept of "net neutrality". He says Obama would require more accountability for government uses of the internet citing "abuses of the national security processes over the last hundred years". Government operation should be more transparent to citizens and open to increased participation through information technology. "Obama is not convinced that the simple operation of market forces and anti-trust law alone are necessarily going to ensure that we have the kind of open internet we need." He further states that Obama is committed to freedom of expression, working with parents and law enforcement rather than introducing censorship to counter child abuse online, reforming patent law, protecting personal information against business interests, and promoting broadband deployment with an appreciation of the internet as a transformative tool. On net neutrality Weitzner says "I'd rather have a more open Internet at lower speeds than a faster Internet that has all sorts of discrimination built in..." and stresses the need to guard against "mission creep" regarding citizen's rights and liberties being eroded by data mining and outright surveillance in the interest of national security.

Further reading:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/-/HQpress/111307%20...
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081031-obam...

And, for your reading pleasure,
appended quotations from the Democrat's 2008 Platform:

A Connected America (p. 17)

In the 21st century, our world is more intertwined than at any time in human history. This new connectedness presents us with untold opportunities for innovation, but also new challenges. We will protect the Internet’s traditional openness to innovation and creativity and ensure that it remains a dynamic platform for free speech, innovation, and creativity. We will implement a national broadband strategy, especially in rural areas, that enables every American household, school, library and hospital to connect to a world-class communications infrastructure. We will rededicate our nation to ensuring that all Americans have access to broadband and the skills to use it effectively. In an increasingly technology-rich, knowledge-based economy, connectivity is a key part of the solution to many of our most important challenges: job creation, economic growth, energy, health care, and education. We will establish a Chief Technology Officer for the nation, to ensure we use technology to enhance the functioning, transparency, and expertise of government, including establishing a national interoperable public safety communications network to help first responders at the local, state and national level communicate with one another during a crisis.

Open, Accountable and Ethical Government (p. 47-48)

In Barack Obama’s Administration, we will open up the doors of democracy. We will create a new “open-source” government, using technology to make government more transparent, accountable and inclusive. Rather than obstruct people’s use of the Freedom of Information Act, we will require that agencies conduct significant business in public and release all relevant information unless an agency reasonably foresees harm to a protected interest. We will lift the veil of secret deals in Washington by publishing searchable, online information about federal grants, contracts, earmarks, loans, and lobbyist contacts with government officials. We will make government data available online and will have an online video archive of significant agency meetings. We will put all non-emergency bills that Congress has passed online for five days, to allow the American public to review and comment on them before they are signed into law. We will require Cabinet officials to have periodic national online town hall meetings to discuss issues before their agencies.

Implementing our Party’s agenda will require running an efficient government that gets results. We will develop a comprehensive management agenda to prevent operational breakdowns in government and ensure that government provides the level of service that the American people deserve. Because we understand that good government depends on good people, we will work to rebuild and reengage our federal workforce. We will make government a more attractive place to work. Our hiring will be based only on qualification and experience, and not on ideology or party affiliation. We will pay for our new spending, eliminate waste in government programs, demand and measure results, and stop funding programs that don’t work.

We are committed to a participatory government. We will use the most current technology available to improve the quality of government decision-making and make government less beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists. We will enhance the flow of information between citizens and government—in both directions—by involving the public in the work of government agencies. We will not simply solicit opinions, but will also use new technology to tap into the vast expertise of the American citizenry, for the benefit of government and our democracy.