Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), when he was chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, once announced that there was good news and bad news about the Internet. The good news, he said, was that everyone in Washington supported the Internet. The bad news, though, was that nobody knew what it was.
The same could be said about legislators, administrators and other political animals in Sacramento, Calif.; Austin, Texas; Albany, N.Y.; or any other state capital. Maybe it’s time we did something about it.
There’s an election coming up in the U.S. in a month and, while the national press seems to be fascinated by what the two major presidential candidate did, or didn’t do, 35 years ago, there’s a decided lack of coverage about what’s happening today and what will happen in the near future.
In the past year we’ve seen the passing of the national CAN-SPAM legislation (which hasn’t helped reduce the junk in my in-box), we’ve seen a California state senator introduce a bill to ban Google’s Gmail service even before it gets started, and we’ve seen lots of heat (but little light) concerning taxes and Internet businesses, regulation of VoIP and expensing of stock options. But what we’ve really seen is further evidence that our elected representatives in the state capitals and in Washington have no knowledge of technology, the Internet or the businesses and services that the two make possible.
I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. In many cases, I couldn’t help anyway because the candidates are quite mum when it comes to technology issues. So you’ll need to do your own homework, and you’ll need to get out and ask the tough questions.
I doubt that anyone reading this will have the opportunity to question President Bush or John Kerry about his vision for technology, or that we’d understand the answer if you could. But in your local elections for state legislator, city council and the like there are numerous opportunities for individual voters – such as you or me – to question the candidates directly, and find out where they stand (or if they even understand) the issues that directly affect your job and your future.
It’s said that our elections have become the battleground of special interests. I can’t think of an interest more special to us than technology, networks and our future with both. Talk to the candidates, then be sure to vote.
Tip of the week
Late this month I’ll be at two different identity management conferences, and I hope to see you at one or the other. Digital ID World in Denver and the Mobile ID Services show in San Francisco. Each will offer interesting programs for you. Check them out!
