Comments on: Five technologies the Obama administration should (but won't or can't) adopt

As the Obama administration takes hold in Washington, D.C., Don Reisinger details some technologies that could help, if only...

[lmasanti]

quote:
"That's why he needs to install cameras throughout the White House and use Stickam to monitor his employees. "

What's the difference between [George W.'s administration] citizen's wiretaping and Don's White House suggestion? (Other than video)

[rapier1]

Because employees, as part of their employment agreement, routinely and voluntarily give up these privacy protections. This is why an employer can monitor your internet usage while at work to determine if you are engaging in non-company approved activity.

[sythara]

yep! I think we all shouold be able to see and make sure the white house staff are working. Maybe a camera in the oval office too, while we're at it.

[aj37viggen]

Um, Don, nobody but a relative handful of geek bloggers knows or cares about most of these "technologies." Hardly a good start to a more inclusive society.

Besides, President Obama is already on record as saying, for example, that the digital television transition should be delayed because it might deprive poor kids who watch 'Sesame Street' via rabbit ears. Those same kids are probably -- gasp! -- still using dialup, so distributing government documents to them via BitTorrent is going to be a little dubious.

[nathantotten]

These are terrible ideas. AIM, really? People use AIM still? You want all the staff in the white house to have to see ads all day for dating sites and teen movies?

[sythara]

I still use AIM. Well Pidgin, but connect to AIM network becuase thats where most of the people I know are on.

[matthew21229]

I work as a consultant in the Federal government. IM, knowledge sharing, wikis and communities of practice are common in DoD, Intel, DOJ, and executive branch. I doubt you'll find the president's staff or the Joint Chiefs micro-blogging any time soon.

The White House and Executive offices are loaded with cameras, but not for work monitoring, for security.

As for distributing knowledge out to "the people" there are thousands of vehicles/methods via the press and media. No need for another layer of technology to hold a town hall, or send out ideas.

[ChicagoZ]

I read recently that there is an approved "IM" function within the government already. Can't remember where and I don't have the time to search for it, but correct me if I'm wrong, please. A little research and common thought goes a long way Don.

For instance, tap message boards, twitter, just Google it. You'll find more than you think, albeit, most of the workings of government communication probably aren't online.

[rapier1]

Any IM application needs to provide security and, at the same time, transparency. So it would need on the wire encryption but at the same time the records need to be retrievable for subpoenas, records, and the like. I'm pretty sure applications like this do exist but the question is going to be how useful they are for the exchange of substantive information.

[ChicagoZ]

Well what if Obama is craving a Twinkie and only has his super-duper NSA approved BlackBerry on him with whatever IM system they use.

PrezObama: Twinkie anyone?
WHouseKitch: Coming right up.

Now that's how you use IM at the White House.

[sythara]

DoD uses a chat program for deployed to talk to their friends and such. I'm sure a similar system can be implemented for WH.

Your "Present.ly" link is wrong. Please update: https://presentlyapp.com/ or http://www.present.ly

[The 3rd Nipple]

Yet again another blog with little research done except on the apps the author probably uses regularly. These companies should be thanking you for marketing them to the masses.

[dogmo1001]

These suggestions seem like precisely the sort of silliness proposed by those who don't do much or any real work with computers.

Just Tweet it, ace. You'll reach those who feel like you do... and spare the rest of us the trouble of reading tiresome blather.

[dwcsite]

Mostly bad ideas. Our federal government needs to rebuild its internal IT infrastructure rather than playing around with outsourced services. If our government needs these functions, they need to build them internally for the sake of security and public record-keeping.

IMO, the first technology change the Obama administration needs to make is taking whitehouse.gov off of IIS.

[Crypticblade]

Please forgive Don he's an idiot. Any one who say they need an IM client because he saw them running back and forth in a tv show can't be the smartest. Maybe he's one of the few people who think stuff on the tv is real. Hurry get to his office and home and get his Video games before he thinks he can shoot people.
Then again he say he doesn't think they are working at all. He want's to see what they are doing It could be split personality disorder. I just think he had to get something out to get a pay check and wrote a filler atricle so they would think he did work.
I can google and write about what show up on the first page, also can i have a paying job too.

[Michichael]

AIM? Really? Come on, the MS Unified communications suite at the very least. I use AIM via trillian but I hardly expect any professional org would. Jeeze. ^¬.¬^

[cazakli]

G.E. is one of the largest entities, if not the largest, in this country. They have had their internal IM (which they call something else) since I don't even know when... G.E., a company that has brilliant people to make successful decisions when it comes to corporate world tools, chose to implement such a system in their internal groups. I think that proves us something.

[cazakli]

I think the point of this article is to show that the technologies similar to what is listed above can be very beneficial in the workplace (business criteria: efficiency, performance, communication...).

White House is an example, and yes, it may be a long time from now that we see such tech within White House, but it does not hurt to be open minded, and recognize the benefits of such tools.

I do not use micro-blogging at work, I am not a twitter user, and yes, I have an IM account that I have not used since college, but I can see where social media is heading, and how it can change the work place. I remember people responding in similar ways to networking tools 5 years ago when networking tools were not common. And now what? everybody has a linkedin account, everybody is on facebook. It is just a matter of time and adaptation.

These tools can be very beneficial if used correctly. So, it is totally up to the user/enterprise to take advantange of what these new systems can offer.

If you are not interested, just don't use them, but I think it is not right to make statements/comments like this article is full of bad ideas. This article is full of great ideas. They are just not your type of ideas. and that does not make them "bad."

[MSSlayer]

They are idiocy.

AIM?

Really?

Stickam?

That is idiocy of epic proportions. In other words, just another day of randomly hitting keys for Don.

[nowimcool]

Ha ha ha!!! Don, this is a joke right? right?? please say it's a joke ... it's not, is it ... sigh ...

Your blogs are like train wrecks Don, I just can't stop looking ...

[thoughtdream]

You're going too far. Start with the basics.
-Ubuntu -Open Office -Firefox -Thunderbird -any large file transfer sites as 'official' business

The reality is the software approval process just doesn't allow the flexibility you're looking for. It will never happen.

[ATasteForTea]

I would nominate the Whitehouse using Skype. There is also the issue of smarter hackers and such that would need to be considered.

Meg

[mackdaddie12]

C'mon Don! Yes, the federal government needs to improve it's IT tremendously. The need for security and record-keeping make it difficult to keep up with the times in terms of IT policy and technology, especially when compared to Fortune 500 companies in corporate America. But the federal government already uses IM, wikis, community forums, and even google within its internal secure network. Don't act like a typical snooty liberal know-it-all college undergrad who's never experienced the real world... do some research!