From Wired Campaign to Not-So-Wired White House
February 15th, 2009Posted by: admin
The Feburary issue of Wired has a good analysis of the difficulty the Obama Administration is facing in converting their very Internet-savvy presidential campaign into an Internet-savvy government. Keep in mind that this article was written prior to the Inauguration, so there is no assessment of progress so far. But that doesn’t prevent the article from noting the particular legal and structural challenges facing the administration, and the high bar set by some of the administration’s promises. For instance, President Obama has pledged to place bills online for public comment for five days prior to signing them into law. That has yet to happen, including the stimulus package, which was finalized yesterday, and is expected to be signed on Tuesday.
Besides discussing the challenges and wisdom behind enabling the government with Web 2.0 technologies (the huge campaign e-mail list must be used by an outside entity, how much staff time can be spared to read thousands of comments, how do you archive all of this, etc.), the article also covers the patchwork nature of government websites and the few successful efforts to incorporate Web 2.0 technology (not happy with the No Fly List? Go to the Transportation Security Administration’s blog and let them know). If you’ve ever wondered why certain things aren’t happening with government and the Internet, this article is a good starting point.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
There is a lot in that article. One gem that caught my attention: “The nimble Obama startup is about to be absorbed into a stodgy, technologically backward behemoth: the federal government. ” An experienced politician would have forseen this problem and would not have promised such unbelievably naieve, idealistic nonsense as Obama has (and this is just one example of such silly promises). Let’s also reflect on the promised “transparency.” It is simply shocking in my mind that that word can be even remotely associated with the present Congress, the majority of which voted for a bill THEY have not even read, let alone the public. What a bad start for Obama’s presidency!
February 18th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
If a Presidential Action Isn’t Reported to the White House Press Corps, Does It Make A Sound?…
Here’s an interesting Politico story on the Obama Administration’s inconsistent release of information on various Presidential actions.In his f……
February 20th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
[...] promises notwithstanding, the Administration is likely to stumble along for a bit in this area. But as an advocate of greater government transparency, this is an area in [...]