Assignment 13: Government 2.0

To address the question in Slashdot, “how do you think government (either in the United States or elsewhere) can best utilize technology to engage the public and make government more transparent and accessible?” I find that this is a difficult question to answer. I do view the government as some inaccessible object but I know it will always affect us directly. Obama posting his weekly addresses on YouTube is a great idea to come in contact with more people and it makes governmental information more available for the people. Also the information presented has not been embellished by the media so people are able to form their own honest opinions on Obama’s issues and topics this way. I think it’s great that he wants to utilize the internet for his broadcasts because he is giving the impression that he cares and he is just one of us. I also think that it is a step in the right direction that he wants to utilize the other technological resources available. The internet is a huge resourceful tool and if the government would use it more I think it would engage the public to view our government as accessible and transparent. If the government would get more involved with the technology I think the people of this country would become more involved with the government because a connection could be formed between them.
A way to make the government more accessible and transparent would be have people comment on his addresses (it does not necessarily have to be in blog form it could be done in polls an so on). If the government would look over the comments being made, they could gage people’s opinions better. During the election, weekly polls and new information kept being updated and it was easy to find out what was happening with the government and become involved. If the government could continue to be as involved as they were during the election they could get more citizens involved. I think the government has temporarily forgotten that the opinions of the US citizens should be looked at and measured instead of just their own. I think that people get really frustrated with the government because their opinions and views simply get tossed aside most of the time. Take the bailout for instance (the first one). They took poll and most Americans were against the bailout; mainly because the companies will just continue what they are doing and come back for more…they wont fix anything…its almost as if they have to fail in order to rebuild a better company. The government went ahead with the bailout and what have the companies done so far? Ask for more money. Because people are frustrated with the government I think they may feel a bit defeated and therefore they don’t involve themselves because voices are not being heard. If the government used the internet as a form of communication that is a two way street instead of one, I think they would get farther ahead. Also if technology is getting used for the government higher standards and rules may be imposed on the technology companies so they will produce a better, long lasting product.
In any way I really hope this country has what it takes to fix things. The fact that Obama wants to get involved is a good sign and hopefully he can change some things for the better. I hope he utilizes technologies made available to him to help him along the way because I think the road is going to be really rocky. If the government becomes more involved with its citizens, it may smooth things over a little.