community technology

On the drive back to Columbus from the Cincinnati One Web Day event, I was not only trying to figure out the best way to present the event in my blog post but also the best way to answer questions from my eleven year old.  I brought my son with me to the event.  I let him miss school (not a minor decision) in order to expose him to a situation where he could ask a question of a representative of a presidential candidate and to talk with others about the importance of technology in our lives.  I also wanted him to understand how the event came to be and why it was important.   Ultimately, those are the same things I want to convey to you. 

We did not have a representative of McCain participate.  Gigi Sohn, founder of Public Knowledge, represented Obama.

I should define the process for invitations.  I emailed invitations to both campaigns.  Through my involvement with the Obama campaign I was given a good email address for requesting a McCain rep.  The request was forwarded twice.  We landed with an individual who tried his best to get us someone.  Unfortunately when it turned out Michael Powell was not available in the morning, the McCain folks were unable to find us someone who a) wanted to participate and b) made it through their vetting process.   Very unfortunate.  Also important to note, we did invite the Nader folks.  No response.

I would wager I am one of few or possibly the only person blogging about the Brookings Institution and Greater Ohio’s movement building event.  They hosted the Restoring our Prosperity Policy Summit yesterday (Sept 10, 2008) in Columbus.  I think it would be unfortunate if I were to be the only person to blog about this event.  The event is important for the following reasons:

• Attendee estimates were at 1000.   For a smart growth summit in Columbus Ohio this is tremendous.  1000 people are concerned about developing Ohio’s core urban regions.  Truly tremendous.

• Brookings partnered with Greater Ohio to not only bring all these folks together but to also put forward a smart growth plan they call “Restoring Prosperity”.  

I love living in THE battleground state. (Yes, THE battleground state.)  Not only for the activity that goes on around me but for the activity I participate in and the activity I create.

I happen to think access to the internet, broadband access, digital equity, digital workforce training, and digital training in general are important topics for our country.  Turns out I'm not so alone.  Both campaigns have Technology Platforms.  Obama's Tech Platform.  McCain's Tech Platform.

It seemed logical to me that folks in my state (my battleground state) would want to discuss what the presidential campaigns have in those Tech Platforms. 

Working with Cleveland Digital Vision, Ashbury Community Services, Cincinnati Media Bridges, and the Media and Democracy Coalition, we have invited representatives of both presidential campaigns to One Web Day events in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Washington DC.  

The International Summit for Community Wireless Networks ended with a passionate speech from Harold Feld of the Media Access Project. Harold believes now is the time for real systemic global change. The right people at the right time. First time Harold spoke at an International Summit on Community Wifi, he focused on why the conference attendees should care about what happens in DC. The second time Harold spoke he focused on reclaiming the idea that public policy is about bringing the best in human nature forward. The term Policy Hacker was coined by one of the attendees last year, a superb term for those working toward community focused tech policy.

Harold got us started thinking about the strength of the community with the statement: The difference between a movement and a mob is coordination and intent. Individuals come together to learn from each other, to make their own projects better. They quickly determine that what they do is part of a larger movement.