The Information Project of America
In this, a time of great and radical change in the general method of the world, The United States of America, in order to remain at the forefront of technological thought, needs to begin thinking of the next great Thing; to cement our IT standing in the world. It is my belief that this idea can and should be produced by the government. I feel that a great nation should have a great web page. Though it is not a romantic notion, it would be a popular one. To create the national web page of the United States of America.
It is within my knowledge that such a thing exists. I also believe it to be a very nice web page. What I am suggesting is that the US government should find the very best webmasters in the country and have them design the web page of tomorrow. All the great concepts for web design coupled with the great ideas this nation has to share. Completely fact-checked, it would be a storehouse of the worlds knowledge to date. It would be the ultimate networking engine, with protections for all, but allowing for the totality of free thought. It would be safe for people of all ages, but it would not disallow for other means of information. The Internet was designed for the free and easy transportation of ideas. Let us fulfill those obligations for some time to come.
There are, of course, many ways to implement it. One could try to get as many IT corporations to come together for this common cause. The site would be hosted and “mirrored” on all their servers and might include government oversight. One could proceed with the above plan but host the site on a number of redundant government-owned servers and, finally, one could design and host the site entirely on government servers. I feel the second choice is the best.
The first advantage is that the site would be hosted on government computers. Thus, IT professionals could set up some sort of protection for people logged into the site. Another advantage is that, by implementing free market concepts, the site could draw on many more resources, including private money, flexibility, and ingenuity. The disadvantages include a requirement of some sort of satiation of the need for profit by the private sector.
I am an IT professional. It is also true, however, that I am not a system designer. Though I know quite a bit about the design of network, I am not completely aware of everything that would have to be done in implement this system. That having been said, the greatest advantage of a national web page is that it would be a great resource that would be cheap. I would imagine the price tag would be in the millions, not billions.
It would also help politically. Mr. Obama, if you were to use this concept in a major speech, it would greatly enhance the fervor of the youth of America. More passion for your base is never a bad thing. It would allow you to say you are the technology president, or something to that effect. And it would allow you to provide that nation with a concept to unify behind, like JFK’s call to the people to send a man to the moon. One, of course, would have to jazz up the rhetoric behind the thing but it is intended as that sort of idea.
The ideas produced above can be discarded at your leisure. It is not my intention to suggest policy to the next President of the United States. However, I feel that it really is a good idea and, as such, should be passed along to someone who could do something about it. Do feel free to use anything in this document if you feel it would help you in your pursuit of the presidency. I require no compensation or acknowledgment. If you are interested in my ideas, feel free to contact me. Thank you for your time.