Why Can't Government Be More Like the Internet?

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One of the great lessons of the Internet is that innovation can come from anywhere. It's spontaneous, it's unpredictable and it harnesses the collective intelligence of a vast base of users to solve some incredibly difficult problems.So, with the country facing what seem to be unprecedented challenges, why can't government work the same way?"It's a cliché to say that this is one of the great crises that we've faced, but this may be one of the toughest economic times that most of us will face in our lifetimes," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said during a policy talk before a crowded audience here in the Ronald Reagan Building amphitheater. Yet despite the grim assessment, Schmidt declared himself an "optimist," owing to the Internet's potential for opening up conversations around policy decisions to anyone who's interested."Every American can now create and publish their ideas," he said. "I don't think we fully understand how liberating that is."

One of the great lessons of the Internet is that innovation can come from anywhere. It's spontaneous, it's unpredictable and it harnesses the collective intelligence of a vast base of users to solve some incredibly difficult problems.So, with the country facing what seem to be unprecedented challenges, why can't government work the same way?"It's a cliché to say that this is one of the great crises that we've faced, but this may be one of the toughest economic times that most of us will face in our lifetimes," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said during a policy talk before a crowded audience here in the Ronald Reagan Building amphitheater. Yet despite the grim assessment, Schmidt declared himself an "optimist," owing to the Internet's potential for opening up conversations around policy decisions to anyone who's interested."Every American can now create and publish their ideas," he said. "I don't think we fully understand how liberating that is."

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