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Obama’s tech revolution: Here’s why the government needs help

March 14, 2016

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Though his speeches aren’t as fluent as they used to be, President Barrack Obama is still trying to solve as much problems as he can. Among the issues that can’t be ignored anymore are several tech problems that are starting to put everyone at risk – citizens, businesses, federal agencies, and others. On March 11, in a keynote address at the 2016 South by Southwest conference, the president talked about many of these issues, including the Apple v. FBI case. Moderated by Evan Smith – Texas Tribune’s founder, CEO, and Editor in Chief, the keynote lasted about an hour.

Every year (since 1987) Austin, Texas is the location for the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference. SXSW features film, music, interactive media, innovations, environmental conferences and events that last several days. It’s one of the most important March conferences in the US.

This year, after a short stop for tacos, President Obama joined the SXSW conference, and he came with a purpose: to recruit tech talent. Well, not to recruit in the literal sense of the word, but rather to raise awareness and convince the tech world that the government acknowledges the importance of their help, and they want to extend their collaboration. Here are the main discussion points:

The US Govt. wants tech talent

“We are at a moment in history where technology, globalization, our economy is changing so fast,” said the president. “This gathering – South by Southwest, brings together people who are at the cutting edge of those changes. Those changes offer us enormous opportunities, but are also very disruptive and unsettling. They empower individuals to do things that they never dreamed of before, but they also empower folks to spread dangerous messages. Part of my challenges, since I’ve been president, is to try to find ways in which our government can be a part of the positive change that’s taking place, and can help convene and catalyze folks in the private sector and the non-profit sector to be part of the broader civic community in tackling some of our biggest challenges. This group is prime to make a difference,” he added.

Evan Smith was on point with his follow-up question. In reality, government and tech could not be more different. The government is “big and bloated”, slow and risk averse, while the tech sector is sleek and streamlined. Judging by the president’s pause before answering, the moderator was spot-on about the incompatibility. In his response, Obama used as an example one recent government tech fail – healthcare.gov, which some people are still joking about. The website broke down, so in order to fix it, a “SWAT” team was put together out of top talent from tech companies. The response team fixed the problem in a few months, but at the same time opened the administration’s eyes towards other tech issues and needs. That’s how the US Digital Services was born, a world class technology office inside the government, with members for the top tech companies. The impact of the Digital Services has been significant, especially in fixing outdated systems.

The ISIL war

Ever since guerrilla warfare became popular during the Peninsular War, having a better equipped and stronger army didn’t mean certain victory anymore. In the early 1800s, the Spanish people rose against the Napoleonic troops and fought against a highly superior army, proving that you can use anything against your opponent, as long as it’s effective.

Unfortunately, the digital age spawned different guerrilla tactics, and even if they don’t escalate to warfare, they still inflict panic and cause deaths. They’re still hit and run tactics meant to fight larger military powers, or at least their morale. Terrorists manage so far to use technology to their advantage, for communications or even recruitment.

“It’s not enough, if we’re going to defeat ISIL, just to take out their leadership, or to control certain territories if in the virtual world they are consistently reaching kids in the US or elsewhere in the world, and recruiting them, and twisting their minds to do terrible things,” said Obama. We have got to be able to penetrate that. For good reasons we don’t want the government to be the lead on that. First of all, we are not credible with people who might be receiving those messages. Second of all, it’s dangerous if the government gets in the business of propaganda. So what I said to them was: We will help convene and put you guys in a room together, where there are resources and if necessary ewe can help provide, but essentially you figure out how we can reach young people who might be vulnerable to extremist messages. You tell us based on the analytics, the data, and the algorithms that you’re working with on a day-to-day basis to sell products, what is it that’s going to really penetrate here? How can we amplify powerful stories that are already taking place so that they’re on platforms that can reach as many people as possible?”

Voter participation

The US is famous for having a difficult voting system, and the 50-55% voter participation on the presidential elections is proof of this.

“We are the only advanced democracy in the world that makes it harder for people to vote,” said the president before being interrupted by a loud laughter in the room. “It’s sad,” he added, and the room went silent again. “We take enormous pride in the fact that we are the world’s oldest continuous democracy, and yet we systematically put up barriers and make it as hard as possible for our citizens to vote. It’s much easier to order pizza or a trip, than it is for you to exercise the single most important task in a democracy, and that is for you to select who is going to represent you in government.”

Bottom line, we need a safe, secure, smart systems for people to be able to vote much easier online, and that’s why the president wants to engage tech experts for help on this matter.

Apple v. FBI

Everyone should know the story by now: Apple was ordered by a U.S. judge to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case of the San Bernardino shooting that took place in December 2015. The judge ruled that the tech giants must provide “reasonable technical assistance” (aka break into) the phone belonging to one of the killers – Sayed Rizwan Farook. The investigators seek to unlock the data of Farook’s iPhone 5C, because that would probably provide valuable information to complete the investigation.

In his SXSW discussion, president Obama was asked about his stance on the encryption war that’s going on between Apple and the FBI.

“First of all, I can’t comment on the specific case, so let’s set that aside,” replied the president. “All of us value our privacy, and this is a society that is built on a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, and a healthy skepticism about overreaching government power. Before smartphones were invented, and to this day if there is probable cause to think that you have abducted a child, or that you are engaging in a terrorist plot, or that you are guilty of some serious crime, law enforcement can appear at your doorstep and say ‘We have a warrant to search your home’, and they can go into your bedroom to see if there is any evidence of wrong doing. And we agree on that, because we recognize that just like all of our other rights – freedom of speech, freedom of religion et cetera, that there are going to be some constraints that we impose in order to make sure that we are safe, secure, and living in a civilized society. Technology is evolving so rapidly, that new questions are being asked. I am of the view that there are very real reasons that government cannot just get into everybody’s smartphones that are full of very personal information, and very personal data. Let’s face it, the whole Snowden disclosure episode elevated people’s suspicions of this.”

The overall answer of the president was mostly neither this nor that, but with a slight edge towards the federal agencies. Starting by acknowledging the risks, Obama also noted that stronger encryption will protect criminals as well. His conclusion was that we cannot take an absolutist view on this issue, and probably the best solution would be something that the Apple side says can’t exist: a one-time key. It seems like tech talent will ultimately have the answer for this battle as well.