(Last of Three Parts)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 1: http://lawandict.blogspot.com/2008/09/who-has-got-it-covered.html
Part 2: http://lawandict.blogspot.com/2008/09/who-has-got-it-covered-obama-and-mccain.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IT Goes With the Territory
Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), a technology industry lobby, relays that both candidates acknowledge the effect of technology to innovation and economic growth. The same group notes McCain’s posting of a 90 percent rating over 10 years of voting on technology issues, and Obama’s participation in six key technology votes during his brief Senate tenure and five-time pro-technology votes.[1]
Another major commonality between both candidates is their acknowledgement of the need to court the Communications Sector. A Center for Responsive Politics analysis of Federal Election Commission data released on 02 June 2008 reveals $10.3 million dollars of contributions made to Obama’s campaign from the communications sector during the 2008 election cycle. McCain, on the other hand, was said to have raised $2.4 million from the sector. Both camps were also reported to have already met with technology and media executives.[2]
Both parties’ Technology Agenda, too, actually revolve around common points. After scrutiny, one would think that there are clear-cut solutions to current technological concerns, as they are contained in both presidential platforms though differently stated. That is, without taking into consideration that one agenda came out eight months later than the other.
· Obama’s “Comprehensive Technology Agenda” (CTA)
The salient points of Obama’s plans could be categorized under three objectives:
.Advancement of ICT Rights – includes network neutrality, diversity of media ownership, the right to privacy and freedom of expression (subject to appropriate parental control for minors), and transparency
.Revolutionizing ICT – includes the appointment of a Chief Technological Officer (CTO) and the deployment of the next-generation broadband
.Improvement of the Usage of the Internet as a Tool – includes addressing the country’s most pressing problems (i.e., health care energy, education) through the use of ICT, investment in sciences, tax credits on research and development, comprehensive immigration reform, promotion of American business abroad, ensured competition in the market, protection of intellectual property rights, and reformation of patents laws.
Much has been said by a number of critics that Obama’s CTA may find difficulty in application. What's evident, though, is that it is a written recognition of the importance of ICT both as a means and as an end in any modern society.
Obama prioritizes the advancement of the rights of all stakeholders to maximize the benefits and development of ICT. Maybe one of the most liberal technological platforms ever put forward, the Democrat categorically promises network neutrality, a concept sometimes referred to as the “First Amendment of the Internet”, [3] which he couples with programs anchored on long-standing ideals that America is known for -- free competition, freedom of expression (with a concomitant regulation in cases of minors), and the right to public information -- limiting but not discounting, the Government’s role to the appointment of a technology czar and the putting up of a next-generation broadband.
Simultaneously, Obama aims to utilize this next-generation technology to address other government priorities. When asked on The View by Ms. Barbara Walters of the three first things he would do if he gets elected, Obama replied that aside from sending the troops home, he would focus on health care, energy, and education. The inclusion of these priorities in his CTA, together with his other policies on immigration, businesses, and intellectual property laws, ties up his technological agenda with the rest of his plans, and shows among other things, the cohesiveness and well-thought out integration of technology in his general platform.
Specific concerns are raised, however, as to certain assumptions and implications that this CTA puts forth.
The program on transparency[4] seems to imply the readiness of
Also, the aim to preserve freedom of expression subject to parental control in cases of minors, presupposes that all American families have a strong support system, something that the whole world knows to be not precisely true.
· McCain’s Technology Agenda (TA)
True to Powell’s words, McCain’s agenda is a typical Republican market-oriented approach. If main points were to be abstracted from McCain’s plans, there would be six definite programs to note:
. Encourage and promote favorable conditions for investments in innovation;
. Skilled and ready workforce for the technological revolution;
. Promotion of free and open competition through internet use;
. Protection of investors’ IPR;
. Freedom from government regulation; and
. Modern computer infrastructure.
To McCain, technology is an integral sector of the free market and should abide to all the ideals of free competition, subject to very minimal government regulation. If McCain’s platform could be summed up in a statement, it would be that a sector of the society, such as ICT, will function well if left to be governed to market forces, and will eventually benefit the society as a whole in the long run.
A perfect embodiment of Republican ideals in McCain’s TA is the “People Connect Program” under the Modern Computer Infrastructure Plan. It rewards companies offering high-speed Internet access services to low income customers by allowing these companies to offset their tax liability for the cost of this service. The program incorporates the tax-cut scheme, private sector participation, and public benefit principles usually associated with Republicans.
A closer and just-on-the-text reading that reveals very similar points between McCain’s and Obama’s agenda, coupled with McCain’s public admission that he is no tech savvy, led many to conclude that McCain’s rejoinder is just a rehashed Obama CTA.
It could not be helped to agree with many critics, though, that what seems rather odd is despite McCain’s statement that society is about to welcome a time of technology revolution, his platform does not show as much zest. That while he has worked with the technology sector as a politician for quite a time, his platform does not reveal any tinge of expertise derived from such years.
But giving more credit to McCain who has had a long history with the Senate Committee on Technology as well as to McCain’s adviser and former Federal Communications Chairman Michael Powell, who supposedly drafted the TA, would lead to the perhaps better conclusion that similarities in both technology agenda show the more important programs that require immediate attention. After all, Powell was quick to point out that many of Obama’s technological issues “aren’t ‘President of the
Is IT in the Bag?
With the release of McCain’s Technology Agenda, many say that information and communications technology is definitely, and finally, in the bag. Americans and the rest of the world, in this age of free and unbounded trade, are about to expect major changes in terms of policies on technology in the next years, granting these plans find their way to actuality, whether it be Obama or McCain.
If it be McCain, it is hoped that his actions and future policies speak better than his plans. If it be Obama, may he be true to his promises and may the universe conspire to make all his grand plans happen.
After all, as many have pointed out, this much attention from the government has been long overdue the technology sector. I just could not help but agree.
(for the week 28 September to 04 October 2008)
No comments:
Post a Comment