wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] dan from Brooklyn November 13, 2008 - 10:24AM

  Seen ObamaCTO.org? Here's a post on Personal Democracy Forum about it: http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/33110/obama_s_cto_never_mind_who_what_should_s_he_do.

  
  
• [2] The Truth from Atlanta/New York November 13, 2008 - 10:24AM

  Me. I would love to be the Chief of Technology Officer.

  
  
• [3] Steven from NYC November 13, 2008 - 11:04AM

  Why does the CTO have to focus on computers? Why can't the CTO also look into other technologies...green energy production, distribution, health care medical records, and other that Obama mentioned throughout the campaign

  
  
• [4] Paulo from Paterson, New Jersey November 13, 2008 - 11:06AM

  A tech chief should not only instruct the President about technological developments and what the government can do for technology but also what technology can do for government. There is a great potential for streamlining bloated and expensive bureaucracies to squeeze the most use out of our tax dollars.

  I also think that we need software developers to give advice to our commander in chief. With so many social and economic programs, there are always people looking to "game the system" and collect money they aren't entitled to and avoid paying money they owe. Developers of video games (particularly the new genre of Massive Multiplayer Online Games) have had to deal with this kind of stuff for years, and I think that gamers could help point out potential loopholes in legislation better than any regulator or legislator. I don't think they should be the only ones evaluating the legislation, but it might be useful to have such people review new government systems.

  
  
• [5] Nick from NYC - Inwood November 13, 2008 - 11:11AM

  I'd like to see such a position also address and take a leadership role on the subject of privacy for consumers and for citizens, which will continue to emerge as a major issue.

  Consumers/citizens need to have control over their personal data and clear, sane choices about how it is gathered and used.

  Industry cannot plausibly self-police here, as we've learned in general.

  
  
• [6] Charles Lukoba from Newark, NJ November 13, 2008 - 11:15AM

  Change.gov has embedded youtube videos

  http://www.change.gov/newsroom/entry/president_elect_obama_speaks_on_the_eve_of_this_election/

  So I guess with Obama that rule you started in the program will change.

  
  
• [7] Jon from NYC November 13, 2008 - 11:16AM

  We need a Department of Information Technology the same way we needed the FCC when radio came about: to make sure that different interested parties had access to the medium (in this case the electromagnetic spectrum) without trampling upon others' access (translation: prevent interference). Telcos are great at restricting access.

  For the 21st century we're going to need open access for the entire country. It will *have to* be a government project. After all, no telco would want to make the kind of costly infrastructure investment on the scale or scope of something akin to the interstate highway system.

  
  
• [8] JohnG from Manhattan November 13, 2008 - 11:17AM

  Nicholas Negroponte would be ideal.

  
  
• [9] Dan from New York November 13, 2008 - 11:17AM

  Jonathan Zittrain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Zittrain.

  He is young, brilliant, charismatic, dynamic, a law professor (like Obama), and his work perfectly qualifies him for the job.

  
  
• [10] LeoinNYC from Soho November 13, 2008 - 11:18AM

  PLEASE PLEASE let our new CTO review military technology expenditures. The staggering amount of waste in the pursuit of weapons we don't need (missile defense anyone?) needs to be reviewed by someone outside the pentagon.

  
  
• [11] Lis from Edison, NJ November 13, 2008 - 11:19AM

  Thinking about the next generation of scholars and researchers, there has to be some emphasis on archiving any material put on the web so that it can be viewed in the future. The National Archives is having great difficulty in making accessible, materials that were produced in formats that are now obsolete.

  
  
• [12] Ilana November 13, 2008 - 11:19AM

  I am curious what is thoughts are on 508 compliancy (accessibility standards). I do work on creating government sites with a goal of being engaging and attractive to users, but the restrictions of 508 compliancy are absolutely crippling in this regard, and will never allow government sites to keep pace with technology.

  
  
• [13] Alex from Brooklyn November 13, 2008 - 11:19AM

  A lot of the NYC websites are great. The Board of Health and the Department of Buildings in particular. You can find lots of information on them, from what restaurants failed their last health inspection to what violations the building across the street from you still hasn't corrected.

  
  
• [14] Kate from NYC November 13, 2008 - 11:20AM

  What's the address for that What's On site that he mentioned that lets you measure your carbon footprint?

  
  
• [15] Bob Kernen from Darien, CT November 13, 2008 - 11:20AM

  Secretary of Technology candidates:

  Marc Andreesen (been there since the beginning)

  Dean Kamen (imagine the halls of the West Wing clogged with Segways)

  Bill Gates (he's not working!)

  Steve Jobs (he's handling 2 jobs, what's one more?)

  
  
• [16] Howard Duffy from Brooklyn November 13, 2008 - 11:21AM

  1. +10mb Broadband nationwide

  2. We also need to finally, fully go METRIC(!) We are wasting resources with the imprecise Imperial system.

  3. Gov systemwide overhaul for networks/applications

  
  
• [17] Craig Newmark from New York (normally San Francisco) November 13, 2008 - 11:23AM

  Hey, Andrew's very savvy regarding tech and politics, and I rely on him for advice.

  (speaking only for myself, not craigslist)

  Craig

  
  
• [18] RJ from Brooklyn November 13, 2008 - 11:26AM

  Please can we not forget the need for privacy in health care records. It's not paranoia to believe that insurers (and there will be private insurers in all current reform proposals) will attempt, in legal and perhaps extra-legal ways, to check up on insurees.

  What about the incessant "loss" of data that happens when, oh, a truck with the backup data somehow misplaces it en route to the storage place, or a laptop is stolen from someone's car?

  And hackers?

  What about computer crashes? The implications of losing this data, backups nothwithstanding, is much more threatening than even the ripoff of credit card data.

  Use of medical info for identity theft?

  These questions need to be addressed before universal requirements for online posting of medical records are put in place.

  
  
• [19] rylee from nyc November 13, 2008 - 11:29AM

  Hello Craig,

  We've come a long way since "schwabbie" days Here in NYC too. Always listen to BL show. Rosanna

  
  
• [20] Bear Kittay from Manhattan November 13, 2008 - 11:37AM

  I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss MYBO and give a 23 year old perspective to the discussion. The PAC I started following working with the Obama campaign is called Music for Democracy (http://www.musicfordemocracy.org)

  We believe in a "triangle theory" whereby the fusion of politics, technology, and pop-culture (music) will provide the tools needed in the progressive movement to empower direct democracy.

  I see the next step as being the evangelizing of these tools through music communities. Look at what happened when NAS decided to use his own mailing list to stand up to Fox News... more than 500k people signed his petition.

  Since Goldwater the right has invested more than 1.4 billion dollars in institutions and 527s that have given them the edge. It is now our time to shine, music is our church- we must seize this opportunity.

  
  
• [21] Jon from NYC November 13, 2008 - 12:00PM

  With all due respect to RJ from Brooklyn, we hackers have been the first to expose, document, and scream vociferously when we find security holes. Unfortunately, "hacking" is a "bad word".

  We've been following many instances of privacy breaches, such as the human error and failure to follow procedure that resulted in millions of Veterans Affairs records to have been lost; the [insane] implementation of RFID in passports which makes it possible to identify people at a distance and without the carrier's knowledge; the privacy flaws in the MTA's ticket-vending machines that allow man-in-the-middle attacks to access your credit card and PIN numbers; and even demonstrating how to rig electronic voting machines (not just that they could be rigged).

  While your concerns are absolutely well-founded, you're blaming the wrong crowd. To err is human, and an erring human with a computer is exponentially dangerous.

  In 99.5% of all the privacy breaches that have been reported, my paraphrasing of Shakespeare hold true: the fault, dear RJ, lies not in the hacker but with the careless (or, in the case of the electronic voting machines, politicized) corporation to whom we entrust our privacy.