We did, We can, and We will

I have to admit to being an on-line news addict. The immediacy of news from all parts of the world is hard to resist for me. Being well informed is a duty we all have, both in our jobs and our communities. The last two years have been especially enlightening with the election of our new President and new leadership in the other branches of government. It also points out some technology insights that are important to enterprise users.

First, examine Barack Obama's use of technology in his run for the Presidency. He used everything we have developed to communicate a message, to organize citizens for his cause, to raise money to fund his campaign and to serve as a cornerstone for his message on the importance of innovation in our society. While some may have criticized his use of text messaging to announce his running mate I thought it was a classy way of doing it. Everyone got a personal note at nearly the same time. President elect Obama used the Web like no other politician has ever done. In doing so he energized a younger electorate (his customers) and they responded by granting him the right to carry some of these innovations to Washington. I have no doubt he will finally be able to get the federal government to successfully automate many of the functions that still need attention, like the processes we use to vote perhaps!

President elect Obama's use of the same technology tools used by many enterprises was not an accident. Collectively the technology community has developed a powerful set of tools that can bring success to any campaign, business or political. How does it feel to know that "we did that". Even more important is the feeling that we now realize that we can apply these solutions to nearly any problem we face. The tools are out there, as is the talent to apply them.

I have no doubt that we will continue or tradition of innovation in this country. New solutions are out there waiting to be discovered or simply applied to different problems in ways that can range from the very simple to the more complex.

We owe President elect Obama a big thank you for successfully demonstrating to us that innovation is not over in this country.