Salesforce takes election debates into the cloud

Salesforce is using the cloud to foster political debate

Salesforce has announced that it is working with the Telegraph Media Group to bring its Debate2010 social application to the UK.

Debate2010 is designed to encourage political debate, and will function as a forum for discussion in the run up to the general election.

The system was developed using Salesforce's Ideas crowd-sourcing application, and lets users vote, comment and debate on political issues.

"By teaming up with Telegraph Media Group to create Debate2010, we are inviting the UK population to have a say," said Dr Steve Garnett, chairman of Salesforce in Europe.

"This fantastic example of how cloud computing can translate into the public sector provides a wake up call for politicians. Engaging in interactive, online discussions is the future of politics."

Debate2010 has already been used in the US and was a successful part of the Obama campaign, according to Salesforce.

The use of crowd-sourcing tools allows Debate2010 to show the most popular topics and ideas at the top of the site.

The tool took four weeks to create and will be available until the day of the election.