TechNews
Obama expected to be first US "Tech President"
Silicon Valley on Wednesday was looking forward to Barack Obama becoming a "tech president" that will champion Internet freedom and innovation. Obama's history-making victory in the US presidential race not only gives the nation its first African-American commander-in-chief, it puts a technology-savvy politician at the country's helm. "Obama likes technology and part of the reason he executed so well is that he used technology so effectively," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley. "That makes him a tech president." A report published by the Center for Responsive Politics indicates that leading technology companies in Silicon Valley gave five times as much money to Democrat Obama as they did to his Republican rival John McCain. By Election Day, approximately 91 percent of the Valley's technology firms and their workers reportedly backed Obama. "The Valley invested heavily in Obama; millions of dollars," Enderle said. "On the tech side, this is the president they wanted." During an "AtGoogle Talk" campaign stop at the Internet powerhouse's campus in Northern California, Obama vowed to defend net neutrality and deliver broadband Internet access to everyone in the country. "We have to assure free and full exchange of information, and that starts with an open Internet," Obama said during an on-stage chat with Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. "I will take a back seat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality. Because once providers start to privilege some applications or websites over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed out and we all lose." Political debate regarding network neutrality focuses on whether companies operating lines handling Internet traffic should be allowed to charge for higher speeds or capacities instead of treating all users equally. Service providers contend that charging for priority on the Internet will promote investment in networks and let them better manage congestion caused by tremendous amounts of digital data traveling online. Internet firms, including Google, argue that service providers are making a money grab that would stifle online innovation and economic growth. Obama agreed that having "the Internet divided up to the highest bidders" would shut out startups and discourage innovation. While speaking with "Googlers," Obama said his priorities in the White House would include developing clean energy and using technology such as electronic medical records to help achieve universal health care. Obama also promised to put more government information online so people could track, and comment on federal contracts and legislation.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments