How Will Obama Affect Tech? 10 Execs Speak

President-elect Barak Obama's use of technology throughout his campaign and his further leverage of new technology will surely mark him as the most tech-savvy president when he takes office next month. The impact is already being felt, with Mr. Obama broadcasting his weekly radio addresses on YouTube. So what impact will Obama have on technology and the industry as a whole? We asked 10 tech company executives to share their thoughts on how Mr. Obama and his administration will leverage technology and how it will fit within their areas of focus.

Kurt Roemer, Chief Security Officer, Citrix Systems

"Barack Obama's presidency is poised to exceed Moore's Law. President-elect Barack Obama has committed the U.S. to evolve the state of technology beyond computational advances. Initiatives such as: 'Employing technologies, including blogs, wikis and social networking tools' describe a new level of electronic collaboration with the U.S. government.

"With proposed investments in communication infrastructure and the establishment of a 'Connected Democracy' that provides Internet accessibility to all citizens, security is paramount. Americans need to feel safe interacting with their government online. And, of course, hackers must be thwarted in their efforts if President-elect Barack Obama's technology plans are to be successful."

"By committing to modernizing communication infrastructure, encouraging more rapid broadband deployment and supporting green initiatives, we expect the new administration to stimulate the adoption of communication solutions that can enhance collaboration, improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

"In particular, we see potential for visual communication solutions like telepresence to change how government agencies operate, making them more efficient, effective and environmentally friendly. There are successful examples supporting this today with video arraignment in courtrooms, distance learning in classrooms, telemedicine in hospitals and increased teleworking among geographically dispersed federal employees. The policies of the new administration may encourage broader use of these efficiency-enhancing tools in government."

"Technology can be transformative so it's heartening to see President-elect Obama looking to harness and promote technology in his new administration. Imagine the possibilities that may come when, as the president-elect has suggested, Americans everywhere enjoy broadband access and a national chief technology officer works to unleash the wireless spectrum! It's an exciting time. We look forward to seeing government, individuals and industry collaborating to advance the technological spirit inherent in the new administration's technology plan, and on the innovation that has made this country great."

"President-elect Obama's technology vision for delivering broadband to every community in America, as well as his dedication to a new and modern communications infrastructure, is right on track. Extreme Networks sees Ethernet as the cornerstone of that investment. Ethernet is ideal. It is a mature technology that is ready to support the growth of Internet access for the masses over either wired or wireless, with the necessary performance required for collaboration, video, voice and data that American businesses and educational and local government institutions will thrive with. The investment will help to create jobs and ultimately fuel growth in the high-tech industry."

"From a presidential candidate who strongly ran his campaign using social media, businesses should incorporate a certain message about this type of technology and the role that it will have in influencing political and business behavior, and the role it can have in the partner community. That role is to connect one another, finding areas of interest as it did for Obama's campaign. If the channel community can tell their customers specifically what they are looking for regarding main issues such as health care and green initiatives, they can embrace these trends as these stimulus actions happen, starting these efforts now."

"Businesses constantly face change, whether it's a new administration or within their own industry. At HP, we continue to focus on helping customers solve problems by providing innovative technology that is relevant for a business to run smoothly. For small-business customers, HP delivers technology solutions to help better manage, protect and easily grow a customer's business. HP intends to remain a partner they can count on in times of uncertainty."

"President-elect Obama is steeped in the culture of Web 2.0, as reflected in the key goals of his Technology And Innovation Plan for an open Internet and a transparent and connected democracy. This vision calls for increased use of unified communications and Web 2.0 to facilitate faster communications and open collaboration. But along with this openness and transparency comes the archiving mandate of the Presidential Records Act. It's not much different for the thousands of American businesses that are contemplating records retention strategies in the Web 2.0 world. Technologies like FaceTime's exist today to ensure these communications are secured, logged and compliant."

"The U.S. has enjoyed envious leadership in the last half-century in many technology fields, creating tremendous economic value. That is changing. The decline in basic R&D, education and declining inflow of highly trained foreigners will have a hugely negative impact on the U.S. economy over the next half-century. I hope the new administration has the vision to address these deeply troubling trends."

"The Obama Tax Cut Calculator widget is a great example of how the administration will use technology and social media to communicate with citizens. This online tool calculates the individual savings that the person can expect from President-elect Barack Obama's new tax plan. The shareable Web tool spread like wildfire during the campaign and was viewed 2.7 million times in a matter of weeks. This type of innovative engagement proves that Obama understands how to harness the power of his supporters, and it seems clear this approach to communication will continue during his presidency."

"Broadband initiatives tie in extremely well with the new administration's plans to improve the country's critical infrastructure. Communication infrastructure and physical infrastructure are becoming one and the same. To improve efficiency of our ports, roads and cities, enterprises and municipalities need not only a sound physical infrastructure, but also a way to communicate easily and seamlessly -- to share data applications, provide security and enable communications.

"We also see a renewed focus on urban revitalization and economic development where wireless networking plays a critical role by supporting public safety initiatives through realtime video and communications, with wireless video surveillance, for example, increasingly serving as a force multiplier and an officer safety tool."