732 results found
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Create/support a national IPv6 wired/wireless Internet
Connected services are to the 21st Century (and beyond) what the telephone was to the 20th century. A national CTO should support and enable the creation of a wired/wireless IPv6 wired and wireless Internet that blankets the entire country, so that everyone, rich and poor, young and old, urban and rural, has equal and affordable access to this system. It should be a public utility, like the electrical and water systems.
511 votes -
Make all non-classified taxpayer-funded software open source
All software created by or for the government should become open source, a shared resource, since it was paid for by taxpayer money. As should data and literature. Even better would be to use and improve existing open source software.
434 votes -
ensure network operators operate their networks fairly
in consumer and end-user networks especially, neutral treatment of all traffic (without regard to protocol, source or destination) is essential to avoid a situation in which an ISP favors e.g. its own VoIP traffic over that of a competitor, or throttles an entire protocol (say, BitTorrent). Exceptions for abuse are implied.
A complementary proposal is that ISPs and telcos stop advertising unlimited access unless they are prepared to deliver it - strict enforcement of false advertising laws should help protect consumers from signing up for a service their provider has no intention of delivering.
361 votes -
All legislation, precedence and codes publicly avail at no $
Make all legislation, precendence, laws, municpal codes, etc publically available at no charge, and providing a means of indexing, sorting, searching, and determining differences with updates and bills. It needs source control!
356 votes -
encourage adoption of Agile software development practices
Successful technologies companies have mostly transitioned to Agile methods over the course of the last decade. It's time for government-sponsored technology projects to do the same.
Agile software development refers to a group of software development methodologies that are based on similar principles. Agile methodologies generally promote: A project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation; a leadership philosophy that encourages team work, self-organization and accountability; a set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software; and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals. (Description from Wikipedia)
302 votes -
301 votes
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high speed trains in local and interstate levels.
i believe that we should have better public transportation to also kick or dependency on foreign oil. it promotes a greener country and encourages more americans to see their country from the ground.
its time that we upgrade our local and national trains to european standards. it makes simple sense.
214 votes -
Embrace stem cell research
Reverse the Executive Order limiting stem cell research in the United States. This field promises to cure some of the most tragic and crippling diseases of our times.
The US has already begun to lose its leadership status in advanced medical research and risks losing its ability to compete in this 21st century industry.
205 votes -
Lazer sharks
Defend our nation from the terrorizers with friggn' lazor sharks.
160 votes -
Decriminalize marijuana use for recreational purposes.
If alcohol is legal, marijuana should be as well. It's health risks are significantly less than those attributed to alcohol consumption. And, to be honest, everybody loves smoking marijuana.
147 votes -
fund more pure science research (@ universities)
We have the greatest research universities in the world, but we limit what they can study because of policy & politics. Blind funding for good ideas should be the basis for how we enable pure research (top 2-5 universities per state should be "funded" for research in a speciality field).
142 votes -
Protect scientific research from ideologies and religions.
Scientific research of all disciplines is continually hampered and stifled by regulations from all sorts of directions, motivated by political agendas, ideological censorship, via a variety of religious or superstitious motivations. This must not be. Science is what drives progress and improves everyone's lives, even when the benefits don't seem to come readily visible or available. Science must be ensured to work freely and openly, and not clamped down.
128 votes -
Start investing in Electronic Healthcare
Our paper based healthcare system is archaic and inefficient. The US currently lags behind our neighbors in electronic based healthcare.
Electronic health records are the key to empowering the patient, ensuring safety, security and privacy, and saving taxpayers billions in costs.
We need to invest in companies that are making Electronic Health Records possible, foster data sharing and securing initiatives and give incentives to healthcare providers to move away from their paper systems and onto electronic ones.
115 votes -
stop bandwidth caps and restore unlimited internet access.
More and more American broadband companies are imposing restrictive bandwidth caps on their users. This hurts the development of the internet, it hurts businesses that depend on digital distribution to sell their product, and finally it hurts everyday Americans who use the internet for learning, to earn a living, or to entertain themselves with the media of tomorrow.
ISP's argue that a mere few consume the most bandwidth, and therefore all should be punished with restrictive monthly caps on their usage. This is wrong. The internet is growing and expanding. Video is everywhere, online gaming is an industry unto itself,…
110 votes -
Support Community Media and Technology Centers in the U-S
Community Media and Technology Centers provide essential training and ICT tools for people throughout the United States. Their work must be expanded and accelerated to ensure that all people have the ability to engage in civic life in the 21st Century. Expanded funding streams and improved federal policies will ensure that Community Media and Technoogy Centers will flourish in communities across the U-S.
95 votes -
Create a smart mass transit system
Let's build a smart mass transit system on the scale of the interstate highway system.
87 votes -
Encourage zero energy houses
Builders ignore new technology that returns investment within a few years. Examples:
- Use ground water heat pumps (3-1 energy return)
- Orienting the house to get sun
- Instant water heaters
- Solar sheets
- Both 120vAC and 24vDC wiring, e.g. for LED lights
- Smaller, not too big
- Rainwater collectionTax builders based on how much energy the house will use, reducing and ultimately giving a break if zero net energy usage.
Buyers have no real choice when buying. With this, the incentive would be on slight redesigns that would have enormous savings long run (5-10 years).
86 votes -
Protect Net Neutrality
Carriers/ISPs are fast becoming power-hungry when it comes to controlling the information you send across the Internet. Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing down traffic which may compete with their commercially provided services. This way the consumer has more choice over the services he/she uses without carriers interfering based on their own commercial interests. If there were more competition among carriers, this would be a non-issue but we've seen much carrier-collusion in recent years, and this needs to end.
85 votes -
Fund Fusion Technology Projects Similar to the ITER
France is beginning construction on the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), a tokamak style reactor to be functioning by 2016. The US has not been the leader in nuclear and fusion technologies in recent years. The US is lagging behind in scientific innovation in this area. Projects like the ITER and institutions like CERN (makers of the largest particle accelerator and the worlds most sensitive "camera") make the US pale in comparison.
Furthermore, nuclear / fusion electrical production has a minuscule carbon footprint when compared to that of the "cleanest" coal fired plant. In fact, technologically we are closer to…
80 votes -
74 votes