Early this afternoon–barely 38 hours after Barack Obama clinched the presidency–his transition team gained a new Web footing by launching www.change.gov. The site seems to be getting massive numbers of hits, judging by the slowness of the response. The homepage includes a presidential blog and links to explanations of Obama’s policy initiatives, alphabetically organized, and a prominent link to his acceptance speech in Chicago. The site projects an aura of openness: it includes a section called “Open Government” that, for now, invites visitors to click away and send thoughts and personal election-day stories. “Share your story and your ideas, and be part of bringing positive, lasting change to this country,” it beckons. When you go there, you must submit your e-mail address. This will surely allow president-elect Obama to continue bolstering his already vast e-mail database, described to me yesterday as the largest ever marshaled in U.S. political history. It will be interesting to see whether he uses these lists to mobilize the masses to help in pressing for passage of his policies. The new site was built by Blue State Digital, the startup that created candidate Obama’s highly effective online social-networking presence. But the “change” site is, well, more presidential-looking, coming as it does from the “Office of the President-Elect.”
Keep Reading
Most Popular

The big new idea for making self-driving cars that can go anywhere
The mainstream approach to driverless cars is slow and difficult. These startups think going all-in on AI will get there faster.

Inside Charm Industrial’s big bet on corn stalks for carbon removal
The startup used plant matter and bio-oil to sequester thousands of tons of carbon. The question now is how reliable, scalable, and economical this approach will prove.

The dark secret behind those cute AI-generated animal images
Google Brain has revealed its own image-making AI, called Imagen. But don't expect to see anything that isn't wholesome.

The hype around DeepMind’s new AI model misses what’s actually cool about it
Some worry that the chatter about these tools is doing the whole field a disservice.
Stay connected

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.