Craig Newmark: Peer To Patent: government using social networking
“Peer To Patent is Washington’s first social networking iniative, using a network of volunteers to help figure out if an invention deserves to be patented. The volunteers, normally scientists and technologies, connect with patent examiners, and like Obama says, this “taps the intelligence” of the American public. “
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Pressing a theme popular with Barack Obama’s tech surrogates, Schmidt also waxed enthusiastic about the power of network technology to create a more transparent and participatory politics. “Government has not embraced, generically, the tools we all use every day,” said Schmidt. “It’s time.” Pointing to the Patent Office’s Peer-to-Patent program for crowdsourcing patent application analysis, Schmidt asked “why is that not true of every branch of government?” The same “police of the Internet” who debunked political rumors during the campaign could be turned on key legislative and regulatory issues. “A lot of people care passionately about them,” joked Schmidt, “and they obviously have a lot of free time.”