Friday, May 23, 2008

Signature thread for the open letter to the presidential candidates

The first step of Dear Potus 08 is an open letter from CFP attendees and our allies to the presidential candidates, asking for their help in sparking a national discussion.
  • If you'd like to make a short (150 words or less) statement as part of signing on, please use this thread. (You can also put your name down on the wiki, and we'll circulate some paper signature sheets at the conference on Friday.)
  • Please use the discussion and dissent thread for additional discussion -- and if you choose not to sign on, please let us know why!
Final draft:

May 23, 2008

Dear presidential candidates:

We call on your help to seize the momentous opportunity that the 2008 elections provide to spark a nationwide discussion on how information technologies (IT) and the knowledge economy impact traditional policy areas such as education, health care, social welfare, and civil liberties.

Our "Dear Potus 08" project is a series of web-based, interactive and open letters to the next President. This work, along with the accompanying broad dialog online and off, will cover topics that touch everybody in our nation, and in the process both engage and educate the public as well as industry and policymakers.

The topics we'll be discussing include

The participatory open letter format, along with accompanying discussions in online and offline forums, allows citizens to engage in the political process in a more deliberative way. We hope to pave the way and refine the methods for ongoing interactive communications between the general public and our government in the new administration. This effort will also help people develop a shared national vocabulary while gaining a deeper understanding of the complexities and challenges of the role of technology in the issues and concerns of Americans.

If you think this is a valuable goal and interesting approach, you can assist us by highlighting the importance of these issues, and your positions, as you're campaigning. Just as importantly, please challenge the media -- "old" and "new" -- to cover the issues with the depth they deserve and the attention currently paid to the sound-bite and horse race aspects of the campaigns.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. We look forward to hearing what you and the technology policy experts in your campaign think of it.


Signed,

see the wiki page for the current signature list

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

As chair of CFP '08, I fully support this recommendation for public attention to focus more substantively on these issues and thank all the participants of CFP '08 for helping shape them.

Anonymous said...

The participative, interactive technologies of the web can revolutionize our interaction with government, and engage people in a process of deliberative democracy that includes those who are currently marginalized in the political process. I'm delighted to be part of this project, and hope that the CFP community will mobilize around it.

Thanks to everybody who's helped get DearPotus08 off the ground!

Anonymous said...

In the letter, please show me as a signer and, if possible, include the following additional statement:

I support the priorities identified in the letter, but also believe that Climate Change, which is conspicuously omitted, is the number one issue facing the US and the world. In my view, all other issues are secondary. I believe Climate Change will come faster than people expect and that we are insufficiently prepared. I strongly urge the incoming President to move more quickly than any candidate has said they would. Examples of policies to seriously consider: Immediate deployment of additional nuclear power plants, moving from physical mail to email, tax incentives for companies to prefer telecommuting over real commuting, aid to students interested in Energy and Biotech, shut down misguided biofuel efforts to avoid food shortages, encourage reduced meat consumption, limit excess product packaging, invest in US high tech manufacturing.

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Unknown said...

As a media and technology professional, I fully endorse this letter. Eve Enslow, Seattle WA

pbierre said...

I support the statement, and add the following.

The strategic importance of intelligent robotics as an R&D priority cannot be underestimated. Once developed, smart robots will transform the economy by providing the lowest cost, highest quality workforce on the planet. Routine physical activity will be automated in factories, agriculture, construction, transportation, landscaping, and housework. Parallel development of robo-ethics/social policy will assure that the economic benefits are equitably shared by the citizenry. Robots can be powered from 100% renewable energy. The nations that excel in robotics will become the most powerful, efficient economies in the world, and the looming problem of labor shortages will be solved. Sustained growth of economic output will take place without human population growth for the first time in history, a necessary step toward a sustainable environment.

The science of intelligent robotics deserves "Apollo mission" commitment and funding. Given the choice of sitting back and letting other nations lead the age of robotics, or making sure it takes off first here in the US, the next President has a momentous, historic decision to make.