Is Barack Obama a 21st Century President?

Now that history has been made with the first African American Head of State, is the U.S. also getting its first President to truly embrace and understand modern technology? Is Barack Obama a 21st Century President?

His inauguration speech spoke about the importance to “… invest in new schools, and new roads, and science, and technology.” For many people, this is a powerful statement of change. Obama places technology in high ranks of importance, and especially its uses to improve the nation’s health care, and, of course, people’s lifestyles. Half a century ago, computer technology was a new thing. People dreamt of the possibilities it could offer, the ability to solve mathematical problems much quicker than any human could ever do.

Now, Obama plans to enhance these dreams, to try and make these closer to reality. This is not to say technology has not improved the world already, but rather that it has more to give, so much more than what we see today. Computers have followed the same principal since the first personal computers appeared.

Barack Obama is a man of the modern world. Judging from his public appearances, he knows and understands what lies ahead of him and how technology may be able to lend a hand. Photographs taken during his presidential campaign suggest that Obama is, indeed, an Apple Mac user, and another photograph shows what is likely to be an iPhone, despite his suggestions that he is also keen on his Blackberry.

His choice in technology does not necessarily emphasize the products’ importance, but rather the fact that he uses it and understands that technology can bring more opportunities to huge important tasks—from improving the nation’s health care, all the way down to the design process of his campaign logo.

Obama is of the generation familiar with the core building blocks of modern IT resources: personal computing, mobile communication, Internet and Wi-Fi. He sits more easily with there language and their potential. Inevitably, he will be a stronger advocate for the power and influence they can have on the U.S. economy and the force for good on individual lives.

Science is also something which Obama obviously feels strongly about. Technology will play its own part in society over the next four years. As the world changes, as America’s place in it changes, so does technology have the freedom and opportunity to change, enhance and improve.

Barack Obama is confident; his eyes set on both the current crisis and future solutions in which technology will almost certainly have a major role to play. He is highly capable of being in control of the United States, and I wish him well and look forward to the changes that the next four years of office will hopefully bring.