American Solutions, an organization chaired by Distinguished Visiting Hoover Fellow and Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, recently announced the opening of a new office in Menlo Park.

Gingrich made the announcement via YouTube, in keeping with the group’s commitment to expand the use of the Internet and technology in political organization.

The organization’s Director of Internet Strategy, David Kralik, told The Daily that American Solutions hopes to address “a deficit of technological use in online organization.”

“Online political technology is a generation behind the times,” he said.

The organization hopes to capitalize on regional opportunities to apply technological knowledge and methods to political problems.

“We want to learn from the best of the private sector,” said Kralik. “We want to hear from the people who made Silicon Valley, and who have the best ideas.”

Some Stanford faculty saw the organization’s goals as a response to the political reality of the 21st century.

“The Democrats, especially Obama, have been very successful at generating money online,” said Political Science Prof. Barry Weingast. “Whether or not the Internet is a viable way of generating public opinion remains to be seen.”

“I think there’s a sense that the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley might help in showing how to adapt the Internet — this very pliable resource — to political action,” he added.

The office attempts to take advantage of its proximity to Stanford and Hoover. American Solutions has already reached out to some members of the faculty, including Law Prof. Lawrence Lessig. The group also hopes to endow an undergraduate scholarship that will include 18 months of work with the organization following the student’s graduation.

“We’d like more than anything to find a student who is technically adept and politically savvy,” Kralik said. “We see it as a kind of modern-day G.I. bill.”

The organization also hopes to interact with Stanford students in a broader sense.

“We want to reach out to everyone,” said Kralik. “The country is tired of red versus blue, and to the degree that the Stanford student body is receptive to our message we’d love to have their help.”

Gingrich also plans to give a talk to the Hoover Institution in July that will in part address the organization’s concerns. Despite Gingrich’s connections, the organization has made no official contact with Hoover so far.

“American Solutions is totally independent [from Hoover],” said Hoover Director John Raisian. “It has nothing to do with Hoover, and, therefore, as far as I know nothing to do with Stanford at large. Nor has there been any discussion of how Hoover or Hoover fellows might be engaged, whatsoever.”

“I know that Newt has always been interested in the Silicon Valley scene,” Raisian added. “I think what this is about is to try to spark something that would be located regionally.”

Nonetheless, American Solutions expressed an interest in following up on Gingrich’s ties with Hoover.

“Looking forward, we’re certainly going to be focusing on Hoover,” Kralik said.

Kralik said Gingrich has a long-held interest in the region.

“The most attractive thing is that it’s so close to the tech sector,” he said. “The Internet has obviously broken down many barriers of communication, but there’s a level of trust that you get with having face-to-face contact.”

“It’s a regional advantage,” he added. “There aren’t that many political organizations that have an office out here in Silicon Valley.”