Obama team goes online with Salesforce

BANGALORE, India: Salesforce.com, the enterprise cloud computing company, said that Salesforce CRM Ideas is being used on the Change.gov Web site to gather input from the American people as part of the effort to foster greater collaboration with citizens and a more transparent government.  The application is now live at http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov.

In a video on the Change.gov Web site, Valerie Jarret, co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition Team, urged Americans to “log onto Change.gov and give us your idea.  It can be about energy, healthcare, or reduction of our dependence on foreign oil.  You decide what is important to you.  Other citizens will then be able to read your ideas and make comments and suggestions.  You may even hear from the transition team.” 

Any American interested in making his or her voice heard can go to http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov, which is live today. Users can easily post their ideas in a variety of categories, such as Economy, Education, Energy and Environment, Healthcare, and Homeland Security. In addition, users can read ideas from other citizens and promote the ones they like best. The best ideas will bubble to the top of the list as more community members participate and promote what is important to them. The top ideas will be presented directly to President-Elect Obama and his cabinet following the inauguration in the form of a briefing book entitled The Citizen’s Briefing Book.

Citizen participation is key to the success of the new administration, and in the video, Jarret encouraged American citizens to participate by submitting their ideas.  “We need your help.  We want to hear from you.” Jarret emphasized that “The Citizen’s Briefing Book will come directly from the American people.  It is yet another way that we will ensure that this transition is the most open and transparent one in history.”

The Obama-Biden Transition Team, working with salesforce.com and consulting partner Reside, was able to implement Salesforce CRM Ideas in less than four weeks, an indication of the power, flexibility and ease of salesforce.com’s cloud computing solutions.

“We are honored to be one of the first solutions selected by the transition team to help the President-elect realize his vision of a more transparent government,” said Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of salesforce.com.  “With Salesforce CRM Ideas, government can transform a closed conversation into a collaborative dialogue that leverages the wisdom of the crowd.”