What Should Be Top Of President Obama's Tech Initiatives?
By Tom Foremski - January 20, 2009
President Barack Obama's administration comes to power with a large number of expectations from many sectors of society and industries. It is a testament to his victory that he has been able to become a beacon of change to so many.
One key industry expecting change is Silicon Valley and the business of technology and innovation. There is a lot that President Obama's administration could do to for this sector and it is a sector that could potentially help lift this economy out of the doldrums: innovation has always been an engine of change.
Silicon Valley and the Bay Area has an incredibly diverse economy and it has a major role to play in the future of this country and beyond. It has a unique combination of two great universities, a massive venture capital pool, and a workforce drawn from the world's best. And SIlicon Valley does its best work during times of downturn, all of its "next big things" emerge from its bust cycles.
Silicon Valley and its industries of technology and innovation haven't asked for a bailout, but they could benefit from the right policies and initiatives.
President Obama has promised to appoint the nation's first CTO. What should be top of their agenda?
Promoting WiMAX would please Intel and a few others. Or should tech policies focus on educating a 21st century entrerpreneurial workforce?
What do you think?
I'm going to be asking this question as I go around the valley and I will continue writing about this subject. If you have suggestions please tell me. I'd love to hear them.
- - -
Please see:
- Intel Wants Nationwide WiMAX To Top President Obama's Tech Initiatives
An Agenda for Obama's CTO - BusinessWeek
Obama's CTO: It's Not About The Money - Forbes.com
Obama CTO - Help set the priorities for the Obama administration
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Posted to Silicon Valley | Tech Policy
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Comments (3)
Create a national free WiFi service; no matter what retail shop one enters, WiFi access is quick and painless. WiFi at retail is no different than roads or other public infrastructure. Cellular data services are no substitute when we're not on-the-go. If we want an efficient connected country to do business in, we have to get past the nightmare that is the current state of affairs.
Posted: January 20, 2009 4:54 PM
Align education and re-training in universities and corporations with trends in out-sourcing (and near-sourcing). For example, consider:
1.1. Requiring that corporations re-train or provide free or affordable further-education opportunities to capable local employees (those with satisfactory performance appraisals) in alignment with jobs that the corporation does not intend to outsource.
1.2. Requiring that local universities warn those people who chose degrees in technologies that are typically being outsourced that they may find it difficult to find a job.
1.3. Requiring that corporations investigate alternatives to layoffs/redundancies and that they take a specific (reasonable) amount time in doing so and that the process be transparent, in order to give the company/employee/country the best chance of finding a win-win situation.
1.4. Provide clear communication regarding the government's position regarding global markets. Certainly outsource of IT is intentional at this point since it is not being managed through any sort of incentive or disincentive program be that through taxing or financial incentives at a variety of levels.
2. Providing and managing a Wiki of some sort that empowers all people by enabling them to put forward suggestions and ideas about actions the government could take to help families and individuals.
Posted: January 22, 2009 1:24 AM
I love Kevin's idea about the WiFi service, that should have been done some time ago. I am not sure how, but I think it would be great if they could some how promote, educate or encourage telecommute type job positions.
Not only would this cut down on many issues like pollution and so on it would also build the tech industry even stronger.
Posted: January 23, 2009 2:39 PM