As we usher in a new administration, filled with hope and promise for our future, against the backdrop of a severe economic situation, teetering on recession and war, Barack Obama has wasted no time setting new policy. Beginning with freezing salaries for top White House staffers, imposing new ethics rules for his administration, and preparing to meet with economic and foreign policy advisors, his first day in office has begun in full force.

There is no doubt that the new United States President, Barack Obama, is the most techno-savvy of any political candidate at his level, of all time. He did, after all, build a grass-roots Internet effort so unprecedented, that technology pundits are still talking about it, and public relations industry people are studying it. In his own way, President Obama – who has made no secret of his admiration for President Abraham Lincoln, has emancipated the confines of the traditional political campaign, by deploying the most advanced technologically connected network of any political candidate, of all time.

President Obama saw the power of the Internet early on in his campaign, and realized how he could best harness and capture the imagination and engagement of millions of U.S. citizens. What his means historically, has yet to be realized, however, most would agree that its impact will have epic proportions.

During his candidacy for President, Obama kept in constant contact with friends, through e-mail. He had also relied upon e-mail heavily, to keep abreast of campaign day events. He used it as any technologically advanced executive does – even using it for memorandums and briefing books, which were seldom ever printed out. Longer documents were responded to from his laptop computer, often with his own red-type revisions.

Obama would regularly receive lists of news clippings, and stayed plugged in, through a network of friends from college, Chicago and other places. Given how important it was for him to have access to unfiltered information from many sources, he will most likely miss that kind of freedom.

As I looked as closely as possible at the first official picture taken of President Obama at his desk in the Oval Office, I strained to see if the laptop that he said he’d wanted, was anywhere in sight. I have yet to see the beloved laptop, in any photograph that has surfaced thus far.

The reason why the BlackBerry is so significant for our new President – is the same reason as it is, for anyone who is mobile, and technologically connected. The BlackBerry represents to him, and so many other people, connection to the things that mean the most to them: family, friends, co-workers, business associates. It symbolizes a level of freedom that most people simply take for granted. For many, it has freed them from the ball and chain of a regular office environment.

It seems inconceivable, that a man who is helming the most important posts in the nation’s government, and the country, if not the world, would ever be denied some of the basic technological tools that virtually everyone in any business office environment, now utilizes, as a fundamental tool in getting their work accomplished.

What this brings to light, is the magnitude of how important computer and technology security issues are, in the world today.

The fact that our government has yet to figure out how to ensure that President Obama has a ready line to his network of staff members and public, is likely to be a challenge for him.

Perhaps this will be one of the most important technological targets that our new President will face, explore, confront and handle. The impact of how it will all play out, will be most interesting to watch. As for me, I will continue to scrutinize all photos of the Oval Office, in ways I’d never imagined.

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