Clever, kind and connected - the new politics

Australia's smallest state, the island of Tasmania off the south eastern coast, has just had a bloodless coup. 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23764043-5006788,00.html 

Former Premier Paul Lennon fell on his sword in the wake of several scandals and political turmoil over a pulp mill proposal, to be replaced  by David Bartlett, 40 years old and only 4 years in politics.  Hiw new deputy, Lara Giddings, is 36.  Both represent the first burst of Generation X political leadership in Australia. 

Bartlett apparently has had a successful career in IT and intellectual property before entering politics.  He summed up his vision for the State that he will now be leading, describing the future he wanted to create for citizens as "clever, kind and connected". 

Apart from being a likely contender for best modern political slogan (it's got everything - the desire to be smart and innovative, the inference of a socially inclusive and compassionate approach and, best of all, the wonderfully ambiguous and multi-faceted notion of 'connected' - technologically, socially, politically), it's one of the best summations I've seen from a political leader that puts the focus on 'connectedness' right at the heart of the political program.  This is exactly the kind of outcome that the IBSG Public Sector team at Cisco would want to see - a political leader who evidently 'gets it' about the central role that connectedness plays in powering innovation, inclusion and democratic renewal.

It will be interesting to see how he turns the slogan into a program.