Bush, Kerry weigh in on tech issues

President Bush and Sen. John Kerry have both responded to a questionnaire on technology policy from the Computing Technology Industry Association, weighing in on such pressing issues as Internet telephony and intellectual-property protection, the trade group said Thursday.

Voters can view the candidates' answers on the association's Web site.

Bush and Kerry, both looking to gain an edge in what might be an extremely close race, expressed their views on 12 topics, which also included spam, privacy and unlicensed wireless spectrum.

		Special report Broadband: Breaking the digital gridlock CNET News.com examines the crucial elements of any policy agenda aimed at building a national broadband network.

Both candidates note that the IT industry is critical to the growth of the nation.

Kerry said he is ready to take action on the issue, noting: "I will direct my Cabinet to develop an 'Innovation Agenda' built upon public-private partnerships."

Kerry noted that these partnerships would be used to harness IT and advance such goals as promoting digital opportunity and making the nation's government more open, responsive and efficient.

Bush pointed to the benefits the IT industry has had on improving the nation's economic productivity, as well as contributing to advances in medical diagnostics and homeland security.

"We must continue to tap into the transformations that information technology can bring about in organizations within...vast..industries and sectors," Bush said.

In the United States, there are approximately 10 million tech workers and tens of thousands of technology businesses, John Venator, CompTIA chief executive, said in a statement.

"Voters in this sector are rightly concerned about how government tackles IT policy," Venator said. "It used to not be this way. There was a certain 'garage mythology' that sheltered our view of, and interaction with, government. With America's growing dependence on IT, however, that day has clearly changed."

CompTIA, of course, isn't the only election-minded Web destination. The Internet is buzzing in the run-up to Nov. 2, with everthing from bloggers busily posting their political views on the presidential debates to Web sites such as JibJab's, which is home to two popular animated satires about the candidates.

[zaznet]

Kerry Can's two answers!

John Kerry canned two of the answers by saying "I am open to..." and without proposing any policy or stand on any issue. While it is great to remain open to new ideas, it is bad to be ignorant of the current problems in this area and shows a great weakness in the technology industry for John Kerry.