Analysis: What will Obama mean for IT?

Barack Obama has already been hailed as a 'technology president'

1) How technical is Barack Obama?
Obama has been referred to as a 'technology president' because of his use of IT throughout the presidential election campaign. He used social networking and blogging tools to drum up support, including Facebook and Twitter, and was the first presidential candidate ever to be a member of MySpace.

Obama also used predictive analytic software to analyse and model demographic and behavioural data to help the Democrats micro-target voters.

Obama says he wants to open up the government by continuing to use cutting-edge technologies to increase participation.

For example, as president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public a five-day opportunity to leave their comments on the White House web site.

Under a policy called Google for Government, Obama said he will give Americans the "right to know how their dollars are spent". A Google-like search engine will allow people to track federal grants, contracts and loans online to see how the country's money is spent.

According to the Center of Responsive Politics, over 91 per cent of Silicon Valley tech firms voted for Obama.

2) Are there parts of the industry that could be sceptical about Obama becoming president?
The main worry is around his protectionist policy and what this will mean for offshoring providers.

Obama said that he intends to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas and start giving them to companies that ship workers overseas.

3) How have offshoring providers reacted to Obama's victory?
So far Indian offshoring providers have welcomed Obama's win. For example, Infosys chairman NR Narayana Murthy issued a positive statement endorsing Obama's victory.

"The US has voted for compassionate capitalism over laissez faire capitalism. Besides, this election has shown that meritocracy matters most. We believe Obama will be a pragmatic leader who understands that the American industry needs to be competitive not just in America but in third world countries as well," he said.

Indian finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram is also reported to be optimistic about America's new leader, believing that Obama will work closely with India.

The optimism is echoed by India's National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). "Nasscom congratulates senator Barack Obama and looks forward to this opportunity of working with the president-elect and his administration on mutually beneficial policies that will boost the economies in both nations, enhance bilateral national security matters between India and the US, and build on the long-standing partnership our two democracies," the organisation said in a statement.

4) What is Obama's technology policy?
He is pro-network neutrality, arguing that this will encourage start-ups and innovation. Clean technology is expected to grow; Obama has promised to invest $150bn (£95bn) over the next 10 years to build a clean energy future.

Obama wants national broadband access to "establish the perfect democracy", although details on how this can be achieved are vague, such as how will it be paid for. It is likely to cost a substantial amount just to put in the fibre.

Obama will also be the first president to create the position of a chief technology officer (CTO).

5) What will this CTO do?
The CTO will establish the national broadband network, securing state computing systems and creating an electronic medical records system like the one the UK has been trying to deliver.

Names that have been circulating for the position include Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, although so far he has side-stepped press queries, saying that he is busy enough running Google.

Others include HP CTO Shane Robinson, and Julius Genachowski, a former executive at internet company IAC.