In this lively presentation, Martin Fowler and Zack Exley look behind the successful U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama at the technology that made it possible. The presenters believe that this technology had a decisive effect on Obama's ability to win the primary, but less impact on the general election. They also believe that there is possibility that this same technology will be used to actually enable citizens to affect policy and governance.
The use of the internet in political campaigns predates the Obama campaign and, in fact, Obama used similar ad hoc applications in his effort. The focus of this presentation: two systems - VAN (Voter Activation Network) and MyBO (My Barack Obama) - that went far beyond past efforts.
VAN is essentially a voter database, with voting history, demographics, and profile information that field workers could use in their organizing and 'get out the vote" efforts. MyBO facilitated multi-way communication in real time among Obama's supporters. This led to an intense sense of participation.
Watch Democratic Political Technology Revolution for more details on how technology helped raise more than a half-billion dollars, created a unique virtual community, and helped elect a U.S. President