Thanks to Becky LaPlant for sending me some fun articles to read and a video on Obama’s steps into the new office. First I watched a video with Rachel Maddow – where he talked about the need to develop infrastructure – from faster trains to faster broadband.

First what I liked was that he said we needed to beef up to catch up with China (I paraphrase). I think it’s great that we’re looking at the international playing field – and not assuming that we’re number 1. Second, I like the fact that he specifically mentioned broadband.

They also talked about the need to create job schemes – like the WPA. So I think now would be a great time for Geoff Daily to approach Obama’s team with his idea to use a New Deal type plan to build broadband.

I also read an article more specifically related to Obama’s search for a CTO. Apparently he has added some tech executives to his technology team, which bodes well for his appointing a CTO.

He has already posted a web site with his plans  (there are 3 mentions of broadband) – a good sign for proponents of technology and transparency. He has some heavy hitters from Google, former FCC members, Level 3 and others on his transition team. More than anything – he’s a technology user, which I think makes a difference.

A CTO could help advise policymakers on technology-related policy – but more importantly I think a CTO could help policymakers get their job done. I have attended most of the Minnesota Broadband Policy Task Force meetings and it is painful to watch local technology leaders try to get their work done within the constraints of antiquated rules. They can’t continue discussions via email without disregard for the Open Meeting rules. (Maybe a public email list could solve that, huh?) They can view but not participate in the meetings via videoconference – so you can view but not be part of the quorum. I don’t even know what rule that thwarts. But a CTO at the very top might be able to modify or update the working policies – and if that trickled down to states and local government workflow it could save so much time and money.

Also – to bring it back to broadband – being able to use technology to get their work done more efficiently might help build a market and a business case for faster broadband at a local level.