owd2008

Written by Jonah Stuber, Age 11

My mom took me to an event that she called one web day, in Cincinnati. I got to miss school for it!  I enjoyed it a lot.  This is what the basis of it is.

Representatives from all of the presidential candidates (including independent)are invited. Each of the candidates reps. will get 15 mins. to talk about their tech. policy. Then 15 mins. to be asked questions about their tech policy. We Knew Ralph Nader would not show.

Obama has the goal, to give every one power over their Internet, to put information on computers instead of paper in order to save paper and money, to use the Internet to bring competitiveness against other countries that will help America “step up it’s game”, to bring broad band to all Americans, to stop internet providers from restricting web site access to users                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

On the drive back to Columbus from the Cincinnati One Web Day event, I was not only trying to figure out the best way to present the event in my blog post but also the best way to answer questions from my eleven year old.  I brought my son with me to the event.  I let him miss school (not a minor decision) in order to expose him to a situation where he could ask a question of a representative of a presidential candidate and to talk with others about the importance of technology in our lives.  I also wanted him to understand how the event came to be and why it was important.   Ultimately, those are the same things I want to convey to you. 

We did not have a representative of McCain participate.  Gigi Sohn, founder of Public Knowledge, represented Obama.

I should define the process for invitations.  I emailed invitations to both campaigns.  Through my involvement with the Obama campaign I was given a good email address for requesting a McCain rep.  The request was forwarded twice.  We landed with an individual who tried his best to get us someone.  Unfortunately when it turned out Michael Powell was not available in the morning, the McCain folks were unable to find us someone who a) wanted to participate and b) made it through their vetting process.   Very unfortunate.  Also important to note, we did invite the Nader folks.  No response.

The most fitting means of discussing online civic participation is via online civic participation.  If you live in a battleground state, turns out you can do so within the context of a presidential election ☺.

On Monday, September 22, representatives of Senator Obama and Senator McCain will discuss their candidate’s technology platform with interested citizens and the media in Cincinnati Ohio. Via Skype video chat.

Tech policy today is super important.  Should all citizens have access to affordable broadband?  Should all citizens have access to training to utilize broadband?  How should innovation be encouraged to ensure job development and technological advances?  Should the internet be regulated to ensure full participation?  These are some of the technology issues our next presidential administration needs to have thought through.   And thought through very carefully.