During Obama’s campaign, he led a charge for the expansion of open source technology. There have been some mentions of it from some officials, but nothing substantial. However, over in the UK there looks to be a huge push for open source technology. Here’s the surprise, from the Tom Watson , the minister for digital engagement.

I love Watson’s common sense explanation of the open source initiative, “when it delivers best value for money”

There are other reasons mentioned for going open source, beyond the obvious financial savings an open source infrastructure could bring. First, open source isn’t bound by proprietary software, or hardware. It’s fully customizable, and can be made to fit the tech needs of the government instead of the other way around.

It seems to me that all of this is pretty common sense. Open source should definitely be the wave of the future for governments, in terms of software and networking. There’s no telling how many billions of dollars are spent by our government trying to keep up with advances in computing technology. With open source, so much money could be saved. Along with letting experts inside the government customize, and code the software to better fit the infrastructure.

Hopefully, we’ll learn a lesson from the UK, if the plan goes through.

[via: BBC]

An interesting video of Eric Schmidt talking about Barack Obama, and what the first CTO (Chief Technology Officer) will have to do.

In Obama’s tech policy statement, he mentions making government more transparent. It looks like he’s started the transparency in a way. His first weekly address has been posted on YouTube, and has received over 700,000 hits.

There’s nothing all that grand or special in the address. Just that we need to move forward together on the economy, and create more jobs.

It’s the action of posting the video on YouTube that is the real buzz. It’s a relief to see a leader have a grasp on technology, or atleast have people on his staff who are. I’m guessing the next step for the Obama site is to host their own videos. Because it kind of shows favor by just releasing Obama’s address on YouTube. There are other video hosting sites out there..

Here’s Obama’s video address for those interested:

Yesterday we finally received our president-elect, and he is Barack Obama. Millions undoubtedly stayed tuned into their various news stations to usher in a new era in American history. So, now that it’s happened, what can we look forward to? Well, Obama has released an official document stating his positions in the tech sector.

If you’d like to read it yourself, here is the link.

There’s quite a bit of vague political rhetoric, so I’ll try and sift through it to bring you the major points.

The major point Obama makes in his policy is his views towards Net neutrality. He specifically mentions ISP’s, and being to stop them from charging fees for certain content to be featured over other.

“Barack Obama supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others. This principle will ensure that the new competitors, especially small or non-profit speakers, have the same opportunity as incumbents to innovate on the Internet and to reach large audiences.”

The next major point that Obama makes, is to strengthen the Federal Trade Commision’s budget. According to Obama, it’s there we’ll find the means to battle cyber-criminals specifically on an international basis.

“Obama will increase the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement budget and will step up international cooperation to track down cyber-criminals so that U.S. law enforcement can better prevent and punish spam, spyware, telemarketing and phishing intrusions into the privacy of American homes and computers.”

Yet, further through even more rhetoric (you gotta love political statements) we find how Obama wants to change the defition of broadband. Specifically changing the speeds that’s currently considered ‘broadband’.

“The Federal Communications Commission today defines “broadband” as an astonishingly low 200 kbps. This distorts federal policy and hamstrings efforts to broaden broadband access. Obama will define “broadband” for purposes of national policy at speeds demanded by 21st century business and communications.”

To me the largest, and most influential piece of Obama’s tech policy is the inception of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). I think it’s here that Obama will find his largest divide among the population. According to Obama, the CTO will be in charge of overseeing the technology used within our federal government.

The divide of course will be, if people think it’s necessary for tax dollars to be spent in such a fashion.

“Obama will appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO will ensure the safety of our networks and will lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.”

After reading Obama’s tech policy, what are your thoughts?