It is too early to even venture a guess as to how this administration will approach innovation.

I’m hopeful for continued federal research funding (NIH, NSF, DOE, etc) which is the core of U.S. superiority in innovation. Other than dealing with the financial crisis and recession, I’m concerned about increased regulation, trade restrictions, and healthcare policy overhaul. All of that could negatively impact innovation.

Mr. Obama has many opportunities to “change” policy that would make innovation even stronger in America and I hope that he will seek ways to do that.

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In an Obama/Biden administration, we can expect much more of a focus on science, math, and technology as critical skills for leadership and competitiveness in a complex world.

On the campaign trail, Obama focused on science and technology research, education, and practice as an area for investment.

His own sophisticated use of the Internet for campaign organizing and communication indicate that the next administration will use and promote 21st century tools for 21st century problems.

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One largely non-technical issue I feel strongly about is President-elect Obama’s misguided pronouncements on outsourcing.

I think America needs to create new high-quality jobs and not resort to public policy to cling to jobs that can and will get done elsewhere. Preserving “old fashioned” jobs sounds quaint and romantic but would trap people in jobs that are no longer viable and delays the creative rethinking and reinvention of businesses. As President, Obama must lead Americans down the path of innovation and teach them how to overcome the hurdles that come up.

On a more technical note, I am delighted that Obama has championed genomic personalized medicine. I hope he will enlarge support for new research initiatives and IT infrastructure investments so we can do a better job of anticipating diseases, lowering the cost of drug discovery and extending the productive lives of our citizens.

Genetic information could become the basis for new forms of discrimination and get in the way of personalized medicine. I was delighted to learn in this context that President-elect Obama supported the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. I hope he uses the power of the Presidency to advance our study and practice of personalized medicine and helps America become the world leader in this domain.

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At SmartGridNews.com, we expect the Obama Administration to announce two things that will converge to give this already growing sector an additional boost. The first is a Clean Energy program to stimulate five million new jobs. The second is a “New Deal” stimulus package based on rejuvenating essential infrastructure.

In both case, the Smart Grid will be a centerpiece. We cannot achieve clean energy without a Smart Grid to transport it where needed. And we are increasingly reliant on the electric power system as the critical infrastructure that makes our way of life—and our global competitiveness—possible.

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Bob Nelsen had a front-row seat to history on Election Night. The Republican managing director of Arch Venture Partners in Seattle was literally at the front of the rally in Chicago’s Grant Park on Tuesday as Democrat Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s first African-American president.

“I was 20 feet from Obama, and about five feet from Jesse Jackson,” Nelsen told me on the phone this morning. Nelsen and his wife were right there on millions of TV screens around the world with some of Obama’s VIP supporters, including Oprah Winfrey and the Black Eyed Peas.

Nelsen, who normally votes for Republicans, has raised a few eyebrows among his venture capital pals for switching sides this year for Obama. Back in May, we noted that Nelsen believed he was the only Republican on Obama’s national finance committee. “Some people still think I’m nuts,” he says with a laugh.

The experience was unforgettable, Nelsen says. “The most profound part for me was watching a guy who I disagree with on a number of things, Jesse Jackson, essentially being real. He was not playing for the cameras. He stood there, for an hour, not saying anything, just literally taking in the moment, with tears streaming down his face.” He added that it was great to see so many older African Americans in Chicago “who thought they’d never live to see the day,” that a black man could be elected president.

We also chatted a few minutes about what this means for governing in the critical months ahead. The crowd was able to watch a telecast of John McCain’s concession speech, which Nelsen said he also appreciated as “powerful and real.” Since the problems facing the country are so big, he’s hopeful that leaders will be able to set aside partisan differences to work together. We both surmised that Obama will probably be able to move ahead with a serious alternative energy push, but probably won’t be able to advance the kind of health care reform he sought in the campaign. Alternative energy has serious potential to create jobs, an environmental benefit, and a national security imperative. Health care, Nelsen pointed out, “Has been messed up forever.” (Update: In a follow-up e-mail, Nelsen said he thinks Obama can still deliver health care reforms but maybe not right away. Health care is “much more controversial and tricky, and may take longer to implement,” he says.)

“It’s really a new chapter for the country,” Nelsen says. “Hopefully Obama will write his own chapter.”

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You are now going to see productivity improve at high tech companies because people will no longer have an excuse to sit around and complain about Bush. High tech employees generally seem to lean towards President-Elect Obama so morale is likely to increase as well, increasing productivity.

More seriously, in Washington State, we’re going to see a number of issues emerging after this election.

First, since Mike Kreidler was reelected as Washington State Insurance Commissioner, we’ll probably see continuing pressure to eliminate all association healthcare plans, which is what most startups offer as a benefit to employees. If this is the case, the overall cost of healthcare to high tech employers will probably increase because health incident rates are lower for high tech employers. Plans like the one offered by the Washington Technology Industry Association allow it to pool that lower risk.

Second, given the state revenue shortfall and a marginally increased anti-business mix of legislators, the R&D tax credit will come under pressure, even though it is good for the tech community, and our region.

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The New York Times published an extensive look today at the presidential candidates’ platforms and records on high-tech innovation in the United States, with a focus on what the two men would do as president to protect and restore the country’s competitive edge.

It’s interesting reading. Despite their parties’ conflicting ideologies, Senators McCain and Obama are in broad agreement about the importance of innovation and a strong technology sector to the overall economy. But they differ on many details, especially when it comes to the role the federal government should play in encouraging basic research and the training of more young scientists and engineers.

Experts interviewed by the Times worry that in light of the current financial crisis, measures that will strengthen the U.S. economy over the long term are getting short shrift. “The problem is that [strengthening innovation] takes an immediate investment that won’t pay immediate dividends, and people are looking for an instant fix,” said retired New York congressman Sherwood Boehlert, the former chair of the House science committee.

And former MIT president and current National Academy of Engineering president Charles Vest faults both candidates for saying too little about innovation policy on the campaign trail. “I understand the immediate pressures and vicissitudes of elections, but I’d like to see them raising the discussion on this, which is absolutely fundamental to the future of jobs and the economy,” Vest told the Times.

A few of the article’s other highlights:

* Obama wants to double federal financing of basic research in physics, life sciences, mathematics, and engineering over the next10 years. McCain, by contrast, favors encouraging private spending on research through tax breaks and deregulation.

* McCain, while generally supporting trade liberalization measures that clear the way for greater American technology exports, has reversed himself in cases where he saw national security at stake. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1997 to 2005, he pushed for restrictions on technology exports to China that, experts say, ultimately pushed the Chinese to accelerate home-grown efforts in areas like computing and space exploration, at the expense of U.S. suppliers.

* In 2007, Obama co-sponsored a bill implementing the recommendations of a 2005 National Academies report on strengthening technological competitiveness. The bill, designed to finance scholarships for math, science, and engineering students, increase basic research budgets, and establish low-cost broadband access nationwide, passed the Senate 88 to 8; McCain abstained. (President Bush signed the bill, called the “American Competes Act,” but Congress hasn’t yet funded it; it’s projected to cost $43 billion over three years.)

* Obama and McCain would both restore the role of the presidential science advisor; make R&D tax credits permanent; overhaul the U.S Patent and Trademark Office; expand research on human stem cells; and allow more foreign engineers to work in the United States.

* McCain says it’s not the government’s role to choose which technologies have the most potential to succeed. He has proposed a $300 million prize to encourage entrepreneurs to develop electric-car technology. But at the same time, he has proposed a freeze on discretionary federal spending that would include research spending. And he has frequently attacked research projects such as a United States Geological Survey study of endangered grizzly-bear populations as examples of wasteful federal spending.

* The McCain campaign has no formal structure for obtaining science and technology advice; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former head of the Congressional Budget Office, is the campaign’s “point man” on science, climate, and space policy. Obama’s campaign has a science advisory committee headed by Harold Varmus, former director of the National Institutes of Health and president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The campaign says that 61 Nobel laureates in science have endorsed Obama for president.

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Software Could Aid in Hurricane Evacuations

Researchers at MIT are testing new software that uses vast amounts of information to guide officials in planning how and when to evacuate a city if a hurricane is coming. After Katrina, officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency started using software that estimates how long it would take to evacuate a city. But according to Technology Review, the new MIT computer model goes much further, combining information about current weather conditions and projected hurricane paths with data on how many elderly, hospital patients, and tourists have to be moved, and makes recommendations based on those inputs.

White Roofs Could Combat Global Warming

One simple way to counter the warming effects of greenhouse gases would be to paint a certain percentage of roofs white, reflecting sunlight back into space, says a researcher from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Physicist Hashem Akbari told the Climate Change Research Conference that he’s quantified the effect for the first time, and that changing a 1,000-square-foot roof—the average on an American home—from black to white would offset 10 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The Los Angeles Times reports that, if the world’s hundred largest cities painted their roofs white and replaced asphalt with more reflective concrete, the cooling effect would be massive.

Campaigns Trade Barbs on Stem Cell Research

The public policy debate on what research, if any, to perform with embryonic stem cells is heating up. The New York Times reports that Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden is going on the offensive against a Republican Party platform that opposes any form of such research, even that approved by the Bush administration. The McCain campaign accuses Biden of using the issue to attack vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whose youngest son was born with Down syndrome.

Cell Phone Pics Can Help Fight Crime

The New York Police Department has upgraded its 911 emergency system to allow it to accept pictures and video from cell phones or computers, CNET News reports. Now 911 callers can tell dispatchers that they’ve got an image to go with their complaint, and a detective will call back and have them upload the data. The system also allows non-emergency hotlines to get images of other city issues, such as potholes.

YouTube Videos Led to RNC Arrests

Anarchist groups that were raided by police just prior to the Republican National Convention came to the attention of authorities when the groups posted a video suggesting they were planning to disrupt the convention. Ars Technica reports that, according to police affidavits, another video, this one appearing to highlight protest targets, also piqued police interest. Police also targeted a group that uses video to monitor the interaction between police and activists during protests.

Techies Split on Obama vs. McCain

A survey of information technology professionals finds that 43 percent of them think the outcome of the presidential election will affect the decisions their companies make about IT. For instance, the Wall Street Journal says, stricter environmental policies might lead to spending on more energy-efficient systems, while immigration policies will affect their ability to hire foreign workers. Asked who they preferred as president, 28 percent said Obama, 28 percent said McCain, and 22 percent said neither.

Online Dating Could Aid Endangered Species

Biologists worried about some rare species dying out have a new tool to help them match breeding pairs, even in zoos far removed from one another, CNN reports. Taking a cue from online dating services, more than 200 zoos are using a website that contains information on an animal’s sex, age, and weight, and even lets zookeepers add information about an animal’s personality that might help them find the right match. No word on whether the gay penguins in the Central Park Zoo will be allowed to create profiles.

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