I write this blog from Jakarta, Indonesia where yesterday I had a meeting with employees of the Koran Tempo. The Koran Tempo is a major magazine and news publication here. In the English edition of Tempo magazine there are several stories about Obama and the election in the US. One story that caught my eye is titled “The End of Racist Politics?”
It occurred to me that this is also the first time America has had a president who has been exposed to PCs for most of his adult life. As Bush leaves office we have probably seen the last president who will not have spent at least half of their life exposed to the PC and other modern technologies.
It is clear that as new blood enters the US congress there will also be an increasing number of representatives and senators who have grown up with technology. The key question is “Will these people be able to make better decisions concerning technology?”
It is clear that to fight cybercrime government is going to have an increasing role. The dismal failure called the “Canned Spam Act” was enacted by a largely technology ignorant congress and was a catastrophic battle loss in the fight against spam.
It will be interesting to see if and how a younger generation entering leadership affects technology policy and legislation. While Obama’s election is important from a racial standpoint in America, I am hopeful, but skeptical as to any positive changes to technology legislation and policy.
Randy Abrams
Director of Technical Education
