(Of course: Susan Crawford RULEZ! :-) (I nevertheless still look upon the Obama administration with a considerable and appropriate measure of trepidation and querulouness. I don't exactly see the words "citizen-powered approaches" regarding international concerns as quite conveying what needs to be heard.
(If "citizen-powered approaches" means according the sort of regard for the autonomy of their own representative organs of government that the United States harkened, from its very inception, in the history of the human race -- specifically as opposed to undue regard for transnational entities acting to overpower those organs and their states that originally granted those entities their limited liability privileges -- then we would be hearing something I feel would be worth lending some degree of my trust to. This is the key factor I believe should be borne in mind as one approaches the policy table, even as one nurtures an "open mind." And one has to remain conscious that this administration has taken a good number of steps in certain areas, that already simply have to be reversed/rectified. Just how things look to me. -- Seth) Crawford: Tech Agenda Just Beginning > http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2009/06/crawford-tech-agenda-just-begi.php Obama Team Stumps for Tech Policy > http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3823091/Obama+Team+Stumps+for+Tech+Policy.htm Broadband Still at Top of Obamas List, Says Crawford > http://broadbandcensus.com/2009/06/tech-policy-broadband-still-at-top-of-obamas-list-says-crawford/ --- > http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2009/06/crawford-tech-agenda-just-begi.php Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Crawford: Tech Agenda Just Beginning Even though the Obama administration has made important, early strides in its first 133 days as part of its technology policy agenda, a key adviser to the president on Tuesday said the White House has a long way to go. "We need your criticism, your engagement, your involvement, and your help," Susan Crawford, special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy, told the Computers Freedom & Privacy conference (http://www.cfp.org/). After "timely, targeted and tapered" economic stimulus package implementation, the administration's focus will turn to job creation -- and that weighs heavily on high-tech investment, said Crawford who is also a member of the National Economic Council. Innovation is tied to a range of priorities from diminishing the country's carbon footprint and creating clean energy jobs to reducing the cost of healthcare and educating the next generation. Crawford also spoke about the need to bolster broadband deployment and bridge the gaps between urban and rural areas and rich and poor Americans. She said the United States is "definitively behind" its international counterparts and Obama cares deeply about the issue. "This is not about national pride. This is about restoring American competitiveness for the future," Crawford stressed. Addressing the problem will require "civility, thoughtfulness and attention" and that work has begun at the FCC and elsewhere in the administration, she added. On the international front, Crawford pointed out that the State Department is using technology to expand its traditional government-to-government outreach to incorporate citizen-centered approaches to advancing U.S. diplomatic and developmental goals. "A networked public can meaningfully shape international politics," Crawford said. Also from CFP: White House Aide Warns Online Advertisers To Be Monitored (Dow Jones) (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090602-708994.html). --- > http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3823091/Obama+Team+Stumps+for+Tech+Policy.htm Obama Team Stumps for Tech Policy June 2, 2009 By Kenneth Corbin: More stories by this author: White House official Susan Crawford kicks off a D.C. conference with an emphatic call for progressive tech policy at home and abroad. WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's tech policy team has been on a bit of a publicity junket of late. In the four months since taking office, President Obama has added several tech advisory positions to the White House staff, made a series of splashy overtures to new media, and last week, he lent his imprimatur to an ambitious program to overhaul national cybersecurity. And in an effort to demonstrate the administration's commitment to technology, members of the team in recent weeks have become regulars on the tech policy conference circuit. One is Susan Crawford, the president's special assistant for science, technology and innovation policy, who was on hand to kick off this year's Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference here at George Washington University. "Tech policy is at the heart of this administration's plans for the future," she declared. Crawford held forth on a host of areas the administration has identified as priorities, including balancing security with privacy -- one of the prevailing themes of this week's conference -- as well as Net neutrality and universal access to high-speed networks. "To be connected is increasingly essential," Crawford said, noting that much of the administration's domestic agenda, including healthcare and energy reform, hinges on ubiquitous Internet connectivity. "Our broadband connections as a country are slow and expensive," she said. "We're not falling behind, we are definitively behind." The administration put what it described as a down payment on the country's digital infrastructure with the February economic stimulus bill, which directed $7.2 billion for broadband projects. But that money, the administration acknowledges, is only a start. "There is no one easy answer, but without adequate high-speed connections, we will miss tremendous opportunities to pioneer the great innovation of the future," Crawford said. "Because pioneers these days are working on data-intensive, collaborative projects that require high-speed connections that we may not have." Crawford went so far this morning as to compare Obama to Lincoln in his commitment to the cutting-edge technology of the day. Just as Obama is forging a new digital infrastructure, she said, Lincoln was a driving force behind the expansion of the railroad. And when Lincoln arrived at the White House, he installed a telegraph line to receive real-time updates from his advisors in the field, much like the tech-savvy transition set about modernizing the IT facilities when it set up shop in January. Critics have charged that the administration's actions haven't kept pace with its rhetoric about open and transparent government. The president had pledged to post all non-emergency bills online for five days before signing them into law, for instance, but in most cases that hasn't happened. Nevertheless, the administration has taken the initiative to create or overhaul several Web sites in an effort to make government information more accessible to the public. One was Data.gov, a project led by newly minted federal CIO Vivek Kundra and Beth Noveck, who holds the title of deputy CTO and is charged with promoting open government initiatives. The Web site houses vast stores of government information, organized and formatted in a way the administration hopes will make it easy for the public to access and analyze. When administration officials talk about their open government initiatives, they frame them in the crowd-sourced model of Web 2.0 technologies, like Wikipedia, or the software development kits and APIs companies like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) or Facebook have made available to the developer community. The aim is to make information available to as broad an audience as possible, unleashing a flood of innovation that runs in unpredictable directions. "We have no idea how this data will be used, and that's the point," Crawford said. Crawford also touched on the administration's efforts to promote collaborative technologies abroad as a vehicle for advancing the country's diplomatic agenda. All foreign service officers now receive training in new media technologies to better connect directly with the citizens of foreign countries as the State Department pursues a strategy it calls 21st century statecraft. Crawford also cited Obama's move to ease restrictions for U.S. telecom companies looking to do business in Cuba, an effort seen in part to sow the seeds of democracy by making it easier for Cubans to connect with the outside world. --- > http://broadbandcensus.com/2009/06/tech-policy-broadband-still-at-top-of-obamas-list-says-crawford/ Broadband Still at Top of Obamas List, Says Crawford By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON, June 2, 2009 - Just 133 days into the Obama administration, technology policy and broadband deployment are issues at the heart of this administrations plans for the future, Special Assistant to the President for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Susan Crawford said Tuesday during opening remarks at the Computers, Freedom, Privacy conference in Washington. Broadband deployment remains a linchpin of the Obama agenda, particularly for the nations short and long term economic health. The nations broadband connections are slow and expensive compared to the rest of the world, Crawford said. "We are not falling behind," she warned. "We are definitely behind." High speed networks can bridge economic, racial and cultural divides, Crawford said. Even the homeless now need access to the internet, Crawford said, referencing a recent article in The New York Times. "Were talking about the human need to connect," she said. More importantly, broadband will be key to the nations economic recovery and future stability. "The president cares deeply about [broadband]," she said. "Without adequate high speed connections, we will miss opportunities." The Federal Communications Commissions forthcoming national broadband strategy will be a key tool to help aid the recovery effort, even after the stimulus programs have ended, Crawford said. "We have to focus on creating jobs after the stimulus," she said. Network neutrality will almost certainly be an important element of that plan to encourage economic prosperity, she suggested. But no matter the specifics of the FCC plan, Crawford was emphatic about the importance of a coherent national strategy. "[The plan] is not about national pride . . . but about economic competitiveness for the future." _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
