What Does an Obama Presidency Mean for Tech?

Candidate Barack Obama vowed on his Web site to "ensure an open Internet, create a transparent and connected democracy, encourage a modern communications infrastructure, improve America's competitiveness, and employ science and technology to solve our nation's most pressing problems." But what does all that really mean? Scott Kessler, head of Standard & Poor's information technology equity research group, believes that Obama's plans could be relatively beneficial for technology companies in the US. In Kessler's view, Obama means to make the research and development tax credit permanent; to provide immigration reform to enable U.S. companies to hire and retain workers more easily; to enforce antitrust laws better; to provide universal broadband access to individuals; to provide broadband access to schools, libraries, and hospitals; to unleash wireless spectrum for a variety of purposes, including connectivity; to put more government information online and to provide better access to it; to promote electronic medical records; and to invest in clean and renewable energy (like solar).