Google's CEO, and Obama's near BFF, is going to give a talk at the New America Foundation at 1pm today. You can watch the webcast here.
The most interesting nugget in the prepared remarks getting sent around is the following: "As the Internet has demonstrated time and again, open systems win. Open systems -- whether the Internet itself or platforms like Android -- carry the promise of constant innovation and even greater choice. Our bottom line is clear: no matter where they are or what device they're using, consumers should have access to the applications and content they want."
This may sound like he's just endorsing goodness, truth, and light. But it's actually a hint at a set of specific policy positions that the Obama administration could endorse, including enforcing the principals of network neutrality and opening up unlicensed spectrum -- policies unloved by many of the most important people in DC. And while the first is an issue is one Obama made central to his technology platform, the second is something Obama stayed away from on the campaign trail.
Let's hope someone in the audience asks him how far he thinks Obama will be willing to go in enforcing specific policies that mandate openness -- and where Schmidt thinks the limits will be.
Or here's another, related question: "You've spent a lot of time with Barack Obama. Are there any issues where his agenda and Google's corporate agenda don't completely overlap?"
