Barack Obama is going to appoint the nation's first CTO. What are the top priorities?
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1,377 votes
Require open access for publicly-funded research
Require open access to the results of non-classified research funded by taxpayers. Extend the exemplary policy now in place at the NIH to all federal agencies.
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6,122 votes
Complete the job on metrication that Ronald Reagan defunded
The government has failed to take the lead on completing the task of moving the country completely to the SI metric system. George H.W. Bush tried to do something about it, but gave the bureaucrats an easy out. Failure to follow the same measurement standards as the rest of the world is costing US industry something like $1 trillion per year.
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12,602 votes
Ensure the Internet is widely accessible & network neutral
The Internet is one of the most valuable technical resources in America. In order to continue the amazing growth and utility of the Internet, the CTO's policies should:
Improve accessibility in remote and depressed areas.
Maintain a carrier and content neutral network.
Foster a competitive and entrepreneurial business environment.
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9,798 votes
ensure our privacy and repeal the patriot act.
The patriot act had many sub-ordinate clauses that strip away our privacy as American citizens. These were shoehorned in as an effort to protect us, while they in fact strip us of certain rights to privacy as citizens. Lets protect our nation while ensuring confidence and privacy to our citizens.
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8,190 votes
Repeal the Digital Milennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
It is evident that the framers of the infamous Digital Millenium Copyright Act intended it to have a transformative effect on the public and legal perception of intellectual property. In the attempt to develop a fully-realized definition of what constitutes infringement, fair use, and the rights of users in the consumption of digital works, the DMCA has had quite the opposite effect by institutionalizing considerable legal ambiguity. The recent spat between the John McCain presidential campaign and YouTube has demonstrated that both practitioners of law and a leading supporter of the DMCA are no closer to understanding the controversial law than the general populace.
With so much confusion and abuse surrounding the DMCA, isn't it time we start over and take a fresh approach to intellectual property that doesn't irreconcilably tip the scales in favor of big media?
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5,705 votes
Open Government Data (APIs, XML, RSS)
We can unleash a wave of civic innovation if we open up government data to programmers. The government has a treasure trove of information: legislation, budgets, voter files, campaign finance data, census data, etc. Let's STANDARDIZE, STRUCTURE, and OPEN up this data.
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2,175 votes
Gov to be ran on 100% free software
Premise: Software is licensed to distribute the overhead of its initial development, the cost of which few organizations could afford. Because all government software purchases are made with public funds, the public should be licensed to use it.
Proposition: All future investments are to be made in software that is licensed to grant use and source code access to all governed subjects. Security will be maintained with the use of trusted concepts, including asymmetric cryptography, and not rely on the obscurity of closed source software. Where viable further development of existing operating systems and applications will be funded. Where not viable, or where competition is lacking, new projects will be originated. No patents will be granted for pubic works. Release of existing patents will be used as bargaining in the contract bidding process.
Opinion: The ability of corporations and individuals to support themselves by developing software will not be impeded. On the contrary, the funding will be fair market representations of what the development is worth. The only thing that will change is that public will receive direct benefit from having paid for the software. The result will be a new renaissance in software advancement. We will also realize boons in hardware utilization and life cycle extension, helping to relieve the e-waste crisis.
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5,554 votes
Kick Start Research and Innovation in Energy
Double the # of engineers who graduate from American universities each year to 60K. Bring more women into the field, encourage foreigners who study engineering here to stay.
We train foreign nationals, invest in them, and then make them go home. I would staple a green card to their diploma.
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4,212 votes
Get broadband to every community in America
One strategy to bridge the digital divide is to make sure everyone has broadband access to the Internet. Broadband should be available everywhere--with plenty of public access in libraries and other government offices for people who can't afford broadband in their homes.
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2,639 votes
Ensure reliable & trustworthy election technologies
Electronic voting machines are insecure, unreliable, and prone to a variety of problems that undermine trust in our elections process. Optical scanners and other technologies have some problems as well.
The CTO can create a clear roadmap to get reliable, trustworthy, verifiable voting technology into every precinct in America by the time of the 2010 elections.
Additionally, the CTO should employ information designers to create a national standard for ballot designs so that all citizens are ensured the right to a ballot that is clear, easy to use, and reliable.
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1,993 votes
Start a "Green Collar Jobs" program
Connect the work that most needs doing (retrofitting our buildings with solar panels, insulation, etc.) with the people who most need work. Let's have the green energy revolution lift all boats--not create an energy apartheid! See http://www.vanjones.net/ for more.
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17 votes
Protect privacy online, and across databases
Privacy means the right against unsanctioned invasion of privacy by the government, corporations or individuals, and should be protected with laws.
Personal details of any kind, including medical, financial, or political information should be accessed, communicated and traded with utmost discretion to avoid fraud and identity theft, government surveillance, and corporate exploitation.
As technology has advanced, the way in which privacy is protected and violated has changed with it. Generally the increased ability to gather and send information has had negative implications for retaining privacy.
This is the time to enhance existing privacy protections!
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy and read the book Code by Lessig ("individuals should be able to control information about themselves").
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1,661 votes
Build a nation-wide smart grid
Embed intelligence throughout a nation-wide electrical grid, on both sides of the meter to enhance the efficiency of distribution and use. This will (A) accelerate the penetration of sources like solar & wind that are diurnal or intermittent; (B) take advantage of smart meters and distributed storage as plug-in cars become available; (C) permit power to be wheeled from where resources are rich to where electricity is needed; (D) provide tens of thousands of jobs and train workers to replace the baby boomers who will retire from utilities over the next 5-10 years. Start with the government-owned Bonneville Power Administration in the Northwest, learn what works, and extend the network across the country.
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1,239 votes
Carefully consider the future of Intellectual Property right
We're at the early stages of what appears to be a slow-motion upheaval of IP rights worldwide. What we're missing is a clear and consistent vision and set of policies in this space. Patents, copyright law, and many other aspects fit under this umbrella.
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772 votes
Launch more X-Prize type contests
Spur innovation by putting a few million dollar prizes out there. You'll get a lot more than a million dollars of innovative work out of it.
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769 votes
Restore DARPA to its former glory and autonomy
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is the research and development arm of the Defence Department. They were a key player in the development of the Internet--now they are making robots that will run up caves. We are starving for fundamental research.
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534 votes
rely on open standards, open devices, OS where possible
We need to multipurpose devices, networks, spectrum whenever and wherever possible. Government procurement can lead the way by demanding openness for procurements that involve large numbers of machines. For example, transponders in cars; smart meters in homes; huge laptop or cellphone purchases; and networks that really could give excess capacity to abuttors while preserving priority for emergency services.
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1,029 votes
Make election software application code public property
The mechanics of democracy should not be private. Elections should be completely transparent . The private sector should not be able to profit from proprietary vote counting systems. All vote counting software applications should be the property of the citizens of the United States of America. As such, they should be completely reviewable, testable, and transparent.
The Federal Government should coordinate with the states to migrate all election systems to publicly owned, standard platforms.
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382 votes
Make all non-classified taxpayer-funded software open source
All software created by or for the government should become open source, a shared resource, since it was paid for by taxpayer money. As should data and literature. Even better would be to use and improve existing open source software.
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857 votes
Allow the public to comment on all legislation
Allow at least a 5 day comment period where the public can comment on all legislation before it is signed into law.
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6 votes
Provide Obama's original birth certificate.
I want to see the original copy of Obama's birth certificate. If he has nothing to hide, then there should be no problem.
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182 votes
high speed trains in local and interstate levels.
i believe that we should have better public transportation to also kick or dependency on foreign oil. it promotes a greener country and encourages more americans to see their country from the ground.
its time that we upgrade our local and national trains to european standards. it makes simple sense.
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6 votes
National Science Standards for Schools
Almost every developed country on this planet has adopted national science standards for their public education system. These standards are typically set by a group of scientists and educators to avoid the politicized process that takes place in many states (for example in Texas these days). The United States has fallen behind in our science literacy and we need to promote better science in our education system.
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3 votes
larger trashcans on the national mall for the inaguration
The trashcans on the National Mall have got to be the smallest I have ever seen in a National Monument. At the end of the day, trash cans are literally overflowing with garbage. After the 4th of July, the Mall is littered with trash. How embarrassing for our Nation's Capitol. We need larger trashcans on the National Mall.
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3 votes
Spend US infrastructure $$ on a National Railway
President Lincoln used the building of the Transcontinental Railroad to unite the nation during the Civil War. Eisenhower gave us the Interstate system after the WII. A National Light Rail System would not only bring the country together, but provide much needed jobs.
Rail travel is so much less stressful than driving in traffice or flying with today's security protocols.
We need better public transit. With a growing population, skyrocketing oil prices, and balooning urban centers that are more and more separated from 'bedroom districts', we need an alternative to the congested highway system. Current rail systems (Amtrak) gives too much right of way to commercial rail. We need a rider-dedicated system.
