focus_on_informatics

President Bush has been widely ridiculed in technology circles for talking about “the internets”. John McCain admitted he does not use e-mail and is only just learning how to get online.

And Barack Obama? Through his adept use of online tools such as social networking, he has this year rewritten the textbook on how political campaigns everywhere will be conducted.

No wonder, the powerful sense of hope – even excitement – has rippled through technology circles since Mr. Obama’s historic election win.

The prospect of a technologically literate president who believes in the positive impact of digital information and networking, not just on political campaigns and the conduct of government but also on the economy andsociety at large, has induced a strong sense of expectation for his administration.

Beyond the specific technology promises made by the Obama camp – such as a commitment to spend $10bn a year for five years on new healthcare information systems – many of the broader policies of the new administration are widely expected to be tech-friendly.

Two areas, in particular, have drawn attention. One involves a commitment to wider access to a high-speed, “open” internet. Mr Obama has already pledged support for “net neutrality”, or the controversial requirement for broadband network companies to ensure that all traffic flowing across their networks is treated equally. This requirement has long had the backing of internet companies but is opposed by telecommunications and cable companies, who claim it would hamper future network investment.

A second area of focus involves building the sort of skilled workforce on which the future of the US tech industry, and others, depend. Mr Obama has pledged to boost the number of students with mathematics and science qualifications, and his use of the “bully pulpit” alone could perhaps encourage more young people to follow this path, says Phil Bond, president and chief executive of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA).

This may be one of the rare areas, however, where the interests of the tech industry do not fit easily with those of the next administration. In keeping with his promise to protect American jobs, Mr Obama has so far laid the stress on improving the quality of the home-grown workforce. In the short term,

pledge – обещать, заверять

ridicule – высмеивать, подвергать осмеянию ripple – колыхаться, волноваться, рябить starve of (smth) –зд. лишать

stir up (anticipations) – возбуждать (надежды, ожидания, предчувствия)

treat equally – относиться одинаково

Exercises:

1.Without referring back to the article, can you remember in what context thefollowing names were mentioned:

a.Betsy Mullins

b.Phil Bond

c.George Bush

d.John McCain

2.Do you remember what the following terms from the article mean? Try to explain their meaning inEnglish:

1)“net neutrality”

2)“bully pulpit”

3. Look back at the article. Find the words which mean:

1)using an intricately connected system of people with their social links (noun, paragraph 1 or 2)

2)havingorshowingknowledge,skillandaptitude(adjective,paragraph1)

3)the feeling that something is about to happen (noun, paragraph 2 or 7)

4)binding oneself (intellectually and emotionally) to a course of action (noun, paragraph 3 or 4)

5)a principle that limits the extent of something (noun, paragraph 6)

6)intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality (adjective, paragraph7)

7)a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how a person interprets and responds to situations (noun, paragraph 8)

4. Whichof these statements are true?Correct the falseones:

1)Neither George Bush, nor John McCain is an advanced internet-user.

2)During his election campaign Barack Obama wrote a book on political campaigning.

3)After Obama’s election win, the very principles of conducting a political campaign in the USA have changed.

4)Along with encouraging students to major in mathematics and science, the new administration has laid stress on simplifying visa procedures for foreign engineers much needed by the American tech industry.

5)Among the specific promises made by Barack Obama during his election campaign is the commitment to introduce new healthcare information system – a project that would take ten years and $10bn.

6)Obama made it clear that he would encourage the development of the “open” Internet.

5. Answer thequestions:

1)Why is it necessary for a president of a country to be IT literate?

2)What promises of the new president provoked far-reaching expectations in the US technology circles?

3)What is the “open” Internet? Who would benefit from it? Who would bear losses?

4)What actions of the American president aim at encouraging homegrown engineering talent?

5)Why aresome of Obama’s tech-friendly promises in danger?

Text 32. The first IT-literate president

Part 2

Most directly, the conduct of the Obama campaign has raised expectations about how the internet will be used in future to make the conduct of government more transparent and involve citizens more actively. In a position paper on technology and innovation, Mr Obama promised to “integrate citizens into the actual business of government”, a plan that includes everything from publishing government information in standard formats to inviting public comment on the White House website about pending legislation.

The technological astuteness of the election campaign has raised much broader hopes than this, though. Those are embodied most clearly in a new role that Mr Obama has promised to create for his administration: the country’s firstchief technology officer.

What role a US CTO will play – and what this will do for the industry at large – is now the subject of considerable speculation.

Under the plan, as laid out by the Obama campaign, the appointee would act as a chief information officer for the federal government, making sure that “our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century”.

Many observers, however, see this as too narrow a job description, and believe that the incoming administration is already prepared to move well beyond it.

“It seems to be much more than a ‘CIO of CIOs’”, says Mr Bond of the ITAA. Instead, he suggests, Mr Obama would give a future CTO a voice in the formulation of government policy in a wide range of ways. The new top technologist would have “a seat at the table” to make sure that “major legislation and initiatives will have that tech perspective”, he added.

The presence on Mr Obama’s transition team of Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, and Anne Mulcahy, boss of Xerox, has even aroused speculation that a senior corporate figure could be appointed to the post, adding further weight to the role, says Mr Bond. Though he adds that an appointment is more likely to come from Mr Obama’s election campaign staff, with Julius Genachowski, a former executive at internet group IAC and chief counsel at the Federal Communications Commission, a leading candidate.

Others see a different role for the CTO.John Doerr, the venture capitalist who has become Silicon Valley’s leading champion of “green technology”, argued this month that the job should beused to promote investment in the sort of basic research on which long-term US competitiveness depends. This is certainly a need that the Obama campaign acknowledged, with a promise to double federal funding of basic research over the next 10 years and create a new programme of university researchgrants.

According to Mr Doerr, figures with heavyweight science backgrounds, such as Bill Joy, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and Danny Hillis, a pioneer in artificial intelligence, would be ideal for the position.

If there is one corner of the technology world where the sense of anticipation about the incoming administration is strongest, meanwhile, it is in “green technology”. Investment ineverything fromnewsolar energy technologies tothe software needed to control a “smart” electricity grid has become one of the drivingforcesoftheUSventurecapitalindustryinrecentyears.

Now, there are high hopes that the nextadministration’s commitment to stemming climate change and furthering the country’s energy independence will give the sector its next lift.

During thecampaign, MrObama himself promised to spend $150bn over 10 years on “climate-friendly” technologies. But that was before the financial melt-down and the signs of a steep economic downturn that have already become apparent.

The green technology industry now finds itself poised between fear and

hope.

The fear is that the US government’s dire fiscal position next year will force the Obama administration to abandon its earlier promises and cut back its support.

At a time when plunging oil and natural gas prices have already reduced the short-term cost-competitiveness of alternative energy technologies – even if this proves to be temporary – the threat of waning government backing could hit hard.

The hope, though, is that the economic slump could lead to an acceleration of government spending in this area. With the US economy suffering,

electricity grid– энергетическая система

embodied – воплощенный, олицетворенный

FCC (Federal Communication Commission) – Федеральная комиссия связи США

further – продвигать, поддерживать, содействовать, способствовать

pending legislation – законопроект, законодательство на рассмотрении

plunging – понижающийся, падающий (о ценах)

public-private partnerships (PPP) – партнерство государственного и частного секторов

Silicon Valley – Кремниевая долина (прозвище области вокруг ПалоАльто и Саннивиля в долине Санта-Клара в Северной Калифорнии. Получила свое название из-за большого количества расположенных здесь компьютерных компаний)

slump – резкое, внезапное падение

steep – крутой, невероятный

stem –задерживать, сопротивляться

take the stage – выступать

threat – угроза

transition team – команда переходного периода (переходный период между избранием нового президента и его инаугурацией)

transparent – прозрачный

wane – уменьшаться, сокращаться вобъемах

Exercises:

1. Without referring back to the article, can you remember in what context thefollowing names were mentioned:

a.Al Gore

b.Erick Schmidt

c.Anne Mulcahy

d.John Doerr

e.Bob Sutor

f.Danny Hillis

g.Bill Joy

2. Whichof these statements are true?Correct the falseones:

1)Active involvement of citizens into legislative process and the conduct of government was one of Obama’s electoral initiatives.

2)An entirely new position is going to appear in the American administration.

3)According to political observers, a US chief technology officer is going to function as a CIO of a big corporation, to be a sort of CIO of the CIOs.

4)Phil Bond of the ITAA believes that either Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, or Anne Mulcahy, boss of Xerox, have the biggest chance of becoming the first AmericanCTO.

5)The green technology industry is the sphere that has been widely supported by venture capitalists in recent years and that is anticipating government investment in the future.

6)Barack Obama has promised to spend $150bn a year for 10 years on “climate-friendly” technologies.

7)Alternative energy technologies are very cost-effective in the shortterm.

2) Agreeor disagree:

1)The economic downturn can lead to an acceleration of government spending on the “green” technologies.

2)The long-term competitiveness of an economy depends on encouraging basic research which includes federal funding of university re-

searchgrants.

4.Topics for discussion:

1)What IT initiatives did Barack Obama pledge to introduce during his election campaign? Which of them do you consider the most important?

2)What professional characteristics should a future CTO possess, according to the article?

3)What kind of specialist could become a Russian CTO, should such a position be created in Russia?