Google manager to lead 'Citizen Participation' under Obama

According to reports, President Obama has selected Google (and former Yahoo) group product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton as the country's first "Director of Citizen Participation."

Citizen Participation has been a key phrase in Obama's technological policy vernacular since the start of his campaign. From campaign literature: "Barack Obama will use the most current technological tools available to make government less beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists and promote citizen participation in government decision-making."

Part of this approach included the development of the Technology, Innovation and Government Reform (TIGR) Working Group, a team of more than 30 tech industry professionals set to "create a 21st century government that is more open and effective; leverages technology to grow the economy, create jobs, and solve our country's most pressing problems; respects the integrity of and renews our commitment to science; and catalyzes active citizenship and partnerships in shared governance with civil society institutions."

This group is broken into four teams: Innovation and Government, Innovation and National Priorities, Innovation and Sciences, and Innovation and Civil Society. It is currently unknown whether Stanton's position will fall under any of these groups in particular, or if it will be working in a broader scale.

In addition to being the Product Manager for Google Finance, Stanton worked on Open Social, and "Open Government," which includes Google Moderator, a service that was launched as a way to submit and vote on questions for the 2008 presidential debates.

While the tech community still eagerly awaits the appointment of a Chief Technology Officer, the inclusion of more Google execs working under Obama ensures a government that will at least try to avoid "doing evil."