DESIGNING TECHNOPOLIS

A Look at the Clinton-Gore Technology Policy

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During the campaign of 1992, it was hard to believe that President Bush knew anything about technology. Bush was the president who made news of his commitment to learn to use a computer. DOS for Dummies should have been dedicated to him. He was far more comfortable chaparoning aging automobile industry executives around Japan.

President Reagan's view of technology was symbolized by the Strategic Defense Initiative, the Star Wars project, a trillion dollar security blanket in the sky. The defense industry grew and grew, the main beneficiary of government investment in technology, even when the present generation was forced to borrow to pay for next-generation technology.

What worked for Reagan didn't work for Bush. With the end of the Cold War, the Bush administration could not continue to expand the defense industry, and as a result, the economy, especially in California, languished. In the campaign, Bush in his American Renewal program was unable to develop a compelling strategy for economic growth based on creating new opportunities.

The Clinton campaign, on the other hand, developed a connection with the high-tech industry, perhaps on the basis of a shared optimism for the future. Many in that industry, including John Young of Hewlett-Packard and John Scully of Apple, but just as significantly hackers and hobbyists, recognized an opportunity to have a government that was open to new technology whose main applications were not defense-related. They began to wonder what a difference it would make to have a President who recognized America's leadership in hardware and software technology. Moreover, this opportunity was married to the belief that new developments in technology, such as the Internet, could help improve the schools, make us more productive at work, and foster a new culture very different from the one created by the technology of mass media. The announcement of Al Gore as Clinton's running mate solidified the impression that the Clinton presidency would make it a high priority to understand the role of the new technology. As a Senator, Gore had introduced the High Performance Computing Act of 1991.

About a month after inauguration, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore presented the administration's technology policy initiative at a speech at Silicon Graphics, Inc., in Mountain View, California.

Visualizing with Lyndon Johnson's Computer , Clinton and Gore's remarks to Silicon Graphics' employees, February 22, 1993.

The Clinton administration created this event to announce its technology policy initiative. Given the distance of more than six months, one finds the continuing optimism of the Clinton campaign to change government and improve the economy. Its appeal targets those of us who watched in awe as NASA sent men and women in rockets into outer space, a follow-on result of a policy initiative by President Kennedy, those who want to see the Clinton administration take advantage of new technology to solve critical problems facing our world.

Technology for America's Economic Growth , the full-text of the Clinton Administration's technology policy initiative.

Translating this optimism into concrete action in the new administration became the job of John Gibbons, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The President's FY-94 Budget proposal with the so-called stimulus package translated these priorities into dollar figures.

The National Information Infrastructure, Congressional testimony by Dr. John Gibbons.
to "How Does the President Implement His Policy?, an 1:38 minute audio excerpt of an interview of Dr. John Gibbons by Moira Gunne of NASA. This was recorded for the TechNation Internet radio program.

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