New president, new challenges

‘Change has come to America’ Obama said in a victory speech that made history. As the new president was inaugurated yesterday, a number of new challenges face the first ever African-American Commander-In-Chief. Not only must he rescue an economy in trouble, revamp the country’s energy supplies, and avert rising employment levels, but many commentators are calling for massive advances in technology.

Economic growth, it is often argued by technology chiefs, can only be achieved by further advances in their sector, and they could be right. Currently, many of the US’ most talented programmers are immigrants to the country, often from the developing nations such as China and India. Meanwhile, a new generation of Americans without the technological skills needed to succeed in business are facing rising unemployment numbers. Investment in technological education could bring about a boost to the flagging economy in the long-term. In order to achieve this, and business in general, greater broadband infrastructures are needed to get such a vast and sparsely-populated country online completely. In the mean time, the US’ H1B Visa system is said by many to be sorely lacking, and so an overhaul of this could ease the flow of tech talent into the states.

The other challenge linked to the economy is green technology. With America’s greatest car manufacturers on their knees, and climate change taking effect, investment in green technology is beginning to seem like the only way in which to rid the US of its gas-guzzling curse without causing mass unemployment in the long-term.

Privacy and security is the two-headed problem on many Americans’ lips. Several think tanks and pressure groups have called for a new national officer to take control of the country’s privacy effort. There are also plans to create new laws around intellectual property and privacy, which demonstrates the forward thinking of the new administration.

In short, Obama’s plate is already full. With the technological know-how already displayed in his campaign, the question as to whether his administration can meet these challenges remains to be seen.

If the country is to benefit from its technological heritage America should embrace talented specialists and utilise international resources. By making the most of these services around the World which they laid the foundation in the 1960’s and 70’s the economy can recover by maintaining fixed-costs and begin identifying new areas and industries to develop skills in.