How Will The Next President Use Technology?

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Mark Glaser, host of PBS’ MediaShift blog, looks forward to the next president of the United States and wonders how he or she might use technology and new media to be more responsive to us. So he has kicked off a "group exercise" where he asks all of us to send in ideas for ways the next president can use technology to be more open and responsive. He has set up a Feedback Form for readers to leave comments and ideas. Throw your ideas in there!

Mark kicks the exercise off with his own list that I abbreviated here:

* A regular blog or Twitter feed;

* Wikis on major policy initiatives;

* Live online chats or video Q&As;

* Transparent, online schedule;

* A listing of all campaign contributors displayed on a Google Map;

* Create an online community of advisors with expertise of critical subjects.

Check out his list in more detail here.

Mark’s list is a great start. And wouldn’t it be great if we could overlay his participatory media model over the whole administration and all the agencies? Sunlight has a similar list of reform priorities for a more transparent Congress.

As Mark writes, our elected officials are supposed to represent our interests in a representative democracy. But far too often, our elected officials are far more interested in the views and agendas of lobbyists and their campaign contributors. Mark says that all the talk during the campaign about reform and the disavowal of corporate influence has given him hope real progress can be made on openness and transparency. Amen.