Transition Watch: Obama and Web 2.0

With some notable exceptions, federal Washington – how agencies deal with citizens, the process in which policies and laws are created – is stuck in the Encyclopaedia Britannica era, according to a Washington Post story.

The challenge for the Obama administration will be transferring the Web 2.0 expertise of its campaign to the workings of government.

The Clinton administration launched WhiteHouse.gov in the 1990s and ordered federal agencies to get online. George W. Bush brought podcasting, online chats and videos online.

“Clinton was the first Web president. Bush is the first digital president,” says David Almacy, who served as Bush’s Internet director from 2005 to 2007. “Obama is the first online social networking president.”