Web-Savvy Obama Team Hits Unexpected Bumps

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: March 2, 2009 9:56:39 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Web-Savvy Obama Team Hits Unexpected Bumps

WEB-SAVVY OBAMA TEAM HITS UNEXPECTED BUMPS

The team that ran the most technologically advanced presidential  
campaign in modern history is finding it difficult to adapt that model  
to government. WhiteHouse.gov, envisioned as the primary vehicle for  
President Obama to communicate with the online masses, has been  
overwhelmed by challenges that staffers did not foresee and  
technological problems they have yet to solve. Obama, for example,  
would like to send out mass e-mail updates on presidential  
initiatives, but the White House does not have the technology in place  
to do so. The same goes for text messaging, another campaign staple.  
Beyond the technological upgrades needed to enable text broadcasts,  
there are security and privacy rules to sort out involving the  
collection of cellphone numbers, according to Obama aides, who  
acknowledge being caught off guard by the strictures of government  
bureaucracy. Wherever this experiment leads, what's certain is that,  
in the same way Franklin D. Roosevelt harnessed the power of radio and  
John F. Kennedy leveraged the reach of television to directly  
communicate with the public, the BlackBerry-carrying Obama wants to  
use the Internet to redefine the relationship between the presidency  
and the people.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030101745.html 
>

Courtesy of the Benton Foundation <http://www.benton.org>
RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress>




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com