Historic First At SXSW: Obama First Sitting President To Keynote

AUSTIN, TX -- It was a historic day for SXSW as President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to ever participate in a panel discussion during the international technology, film and music festival.

Those lucky enough to get seating at the Long Center where the president spoke -- some 2,000 spectators -- heard Obama tick off a list of ways the technology industry can help solve societal obstacles.

Obama’s talk came during the kickoff to SXSW Interactive, the portion of the festival dealing with techology.

"The reason I’m here is to recruit all of you," the president said. "We can start coming up with new platforms, new ideas across disciplines and across skill sets to solve some of the big problems we’re facing today."

In his first campaign for the presidency, Obama’s camp distinguished itself for its masterful use of social media to promote awareness to his candidacy. He is widely considered to be one of the savviest politicians as it relates to exploiting the power of social media to convey his messaging.

Inside the Long Center, he described several ways in which technology can help improve society and aid in engaging the public to participate in civic affairs.

Some of those ideas hit close to home, as Obama pointed out the need to improve outdated federal communications platforms. Technology can also help connect rural schools teaching resources, he said.

Obama didn’t shy away from controversy either. He touched on the current fight between Apple and the FBI over compelling the former to unlock a phone used by a terrorist. That case centers around the feds’ request for Apple to help unlock the iPhone of one of the attackers in the San Bernardino terror attack that left 14 dead.

Apple has refused to aid the authorities unlock the phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook on that tragic day, citing broader privacy issues. The company views the request as a slippery slope that may lead to the government securing private information at will anytime it needs to do so.

Drawing on his experience as a Constitutional lawyer before becoming president, Obama disagreed with that stance, He likened the government’s request to access to encrypted data as akin to airport screenings or DUI checkpoints -- necessary security measures that are nonetheless at odds with personal privacy.

"This notion that somehow data is different and can be walled off from those other trade-offs we make, I believe, is incorrect," he said. "We’re going to need the tech community to help us solve this problem.”

The White House posted a snippet of that part of Obama's talk on the official website.

The president also touched on the issue of low voter turnout, as another shortcoming that could be aided through technology. Regarding the state's historically low voter turnout, Obama said GOP leadership was partially at fault for the anemic showing at polling places given policies that prohibit online voter registration.

“It is much easier to order pizza or a trip than it is for you to exercise the single most important task in a democracy," Obama said. "And that is to select who’s going to represent you in government."

Obama’s 50-minute conversation went 20 minutes longer than originally planned. His questioner was Evan Smith, the editor of Texas Tribune.

Known for asking the tough questions of those he interviews, Smith broached the subject of the rollout of the Affordable Care Act website, beset by technical issues that became fodder for the late-night television comics.

“This was a little embarrassing for me,” Obama conceded. “My entire campaign was based on having cool technology.”

Obama’s keynote address kicked off the 10-day SXSW festival that draws tens of thousands of people from all over the world to Austin.

Outside the Long Center, people gathered to try to catch a glimpse of the presidential motorcade. Largely, they seemed supportive of the president, with intermittent and spontaneous cheers of “Obama! Obama!”

But others took the opportunity to avail themselves of the captive crowd to espouse their views on other matters. One woman grew increasingly hoarse as she recited biblical passages, urging those gathered to take heed of the holy text’s teachings.

Another protester spoke of the exodus of black residents in a briskly gentrifying city, forcing mass displacement of people no longer able to afford living in Austin as property taxes soar.

“Look at that skyline with all its glass buildings,” he shouted into a megaphone while looking north to the central business district. “It looks like the Wizard of Oz and my people don’t have s**t.”

Naturally, police presence was tight outside the Long Center, with officers in police vehicles and on horseback as they protected the president. Overhead, police in a helicopter kept vigilance from the sky, circling above the facility as the president spoke.