About a half-decade ago I wrote up a piece for the Journal of Community Informatics, "Community Wireless Networking and Open Spectrum Usage: A Research Agenda to Support Progressive Policy Reform of the Public Airwaves". My focus was on spectrum policy, but the first key point I raised was valuable across the board -- to create a truly progressive telecommunications policy:

"First, identify major research that has already been conducted and impacted (or been cited) in regulatory/policy debates, as well as the independent research labs that are most active in contemporary spectrum research areas. This assessment would survey the literature that "counts" -- encompassing technical, economic, social, and other domains that should be taken into account and help inform contemporary regulatory/policy debates. This literature could then be used to help set the agenda for future policy debates."

Now fast forward to today's press release from the FCC (and which happens to be put out by my friend and colleague, Jen Howard, who just started her new gig at the FCC last week):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2009

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT
Jen Howard
(202) 418-0506
Jen.howard@fcc.gov

Harvard’s Berkman Center to Conduct Independent Review of Broadband Studies to Assist FCC

WASHINGTON – The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University will conduct an independent expert review of existing literature and studies about broadband deployment and usage throughout the world. This project will help inform the FCC’s efforts in developing the National Broadband Plan.

“Advanced communications have the potential to enhance the lives of all Americans, improve public safety, create jobs, and support our economic recovery,” Chairman Julius Genachowski said. “As the Commission embarks on the important task of crafting a National Broadband Plan, better data will inform and animate the activities of the agency. The Berkman Center’s independent review of existing information will help lay the foundation for enlightened, data-driven decisionmaking. I appreciate the Berkman Center’s invaluable assistance and look forward to seeing the results.”

Yochai Benkler, the Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard, and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, said, “I am pleased that the Berkman Center can contribute positively to the process Chairman Genachowski has envisioned for developing a national broadband strategy by providing to the Commission, and thereby the public, the results of our compilation and assessment of the existing literature on this important and timely subject.”

“A comprehensive assessment of these plans will be enormously helpful given our short timetable,” said Blair Levin, who is coordinating the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Knowing what has already been learned will improve our ability to deliver the best possible National Broadband Plan.” Consistent with Chairman Genachowski’s recent public statements regarding an open and transparent National Broadband Plan process, the results of the Berkman Center review will be made publicly available.

Awesome!

Call for Paper Proposals

Beyond Broadband Access: Data-Based Information Policy For a New Administration

This is a Call for Proposals (Abstracts) for papers for a three day by-invitation Experts Workshop on approaches to developing data-based information policy. The deliverables are expected to be policy recommendations, a book and a new research agenda. Abstracts are due by April 15, 2009.

Scope and Overview:

The stimulus bill just passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Obama allocates $7.2 billion to loan and grant programs for the deployment of broadband. Most recently the governments of Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom have committed more spectrum to wireless broadband services, However, it is widely acknowledged that in order to fully realize the potential of broadband for the promotion of social progress, economic development and democracy, mere access is not enough. Technology, applications, education, awareness, skills, and content are among many factors that are to be taken into account. Understanding the interplay of all these factors is essential in order to take information policy to the next level. However, this demands both firm empirical and theoretical foundations.

This Workshop is intended to propose a strategy for developing such a foundation -- a comprehensive, data-based approach for understanding policy consequences and improving policy outcomes through the utilization of meaningful empirical analyses, statistical methods, and the development of new conceptual frameworks. The Workshop will assemble a small group of highly skilled experts to seek breakthrough insights, which can be applied to current policy challenges.

Important policy decisions are being made worldwide about information services that promote innovation, knowledge development, social equity and democratic values. These decisions can be improved if informed by empirical data that will assist decision makers in understanding the likely consequences of their policies.

Many numbers are thrown around in the global information policy discourse regarding matters such as "e-readiness", the "digital divide", and the "information society". What do these numbers actually mean? Are they the numbers that matter? Are they loaded for or against certain outcomes? Can the underlying methods and data be transformed into truly useful policy tools? Most of the existing approaches to measurements that affect information policy produce results which are descriptive and comparative (e.g., which nation has more Internet access), which are only useful up to a point. Clearly, what is needed are approaches which are explanatory and predictive, that help understand not only what has happened but also why, and to assist in making predictions about what will happen. This presents significant methodological challenges that must first be guided by theory, and in this field, theory is remarkably lacking.

Description

The Workshop will bring together a group of about twenty experts on information metrology from around the world. They will meet for three days in Washington, D.C., where, during morning and afternoon sessions, they will make presentations, share research, hear guest experts, discuss concrete approaches and new theories, identify problems and challenges, and develop conclusions and a future research agenda. Each participant will write and present an original paper to the group, which will then be the subject of questions and discussion, followed by a final Workshop summary session. Participants will be selected based on their abstracts and their identified ability to make a significant contribution based on their expertise or experience.

Date and Location

DATE: September 22-24, 2009
PLACE: The New America Foundation
1899 L Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036

Topics:

Proposals should be based on current theoretical or empirical
research, and may be from any disciplinary perspective. Subject areas of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

Theory: Specification of objectives; development of theoretical models; identification of testable hypotheses; selection of appropriate methodologies for analysis.

Data: Identification of key indicators; development of consistent data standards; data collection and verification; data access.

Modeling: Development of empirical models; dealing with institutional diversity and complexity; coping with dynamic technological change. Multidimensional visual modeling of large bodies of data.

Application: Formulating answerable questions; Making predictions about outcomes; Analyzing relevant data; Using outcomes to refine theory and hypotheses.

Policy Development: Organization of statistical resources; conversion of results of statistical analysis into policy guidance; incorporation of results in shaping policy or legislation; political use of findings.

Submission Deadline:

Submissions are due by April 15, 2009. Submissions should be made to expwkshopDBIP2009@psu.edu. Abstracts are not to exceed 500 words. Abstracts should be accompanied by a brief biographical description of the author(s)(no more than two pages). Decisions will be announced by May 29, 2009.

Accepted papers will be due on Sept. 1, 2009, and authors are expected to present the accepted submissions.

Support Funds:

Final funding plans are still being developed, but it is expected that some funding will be available to help offset the costs of attendance for accepted papers, with a priority given to international participants.

Program Organizers:

• Johannes Bauer, Ph.D., Professor, Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media, Co-Director, Quello Center for Telecommunication Management & Law, MSU (https://www.msu.edu/~bauerj/)
• Sascha Meinrath, Research Director, Wireless Future Program, New America Foundation (http://www.newamerica.net/people/sascha_meinrath)
• Jorge R. Schement, Ph.D., Dean, School of Communication, Information and Library Science, RU (http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/directory/jschemen/index.html)
• Richard Taylor, J.D., Ed.D., Palmer Chair and Professor of Telecommunications Studies, Co-Director, Institute for Information Policy (http://comm.psu.edu/people/rdt4)
• Bin Zhang, Ph.D., Professor, School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (http://www.intramis.net/?q=node/4)

For information or questions, contact: Richard Taylor at rdt4[at]psu.edu

I'm spending the weekend up in Philadelphia as a part of the SSRC Necessary Knowledge Workshop, which brings together dozens of academics and policy wonks from across the country (and around the globe). The workshop is a chance to hear about various research projects that have been conducted over the past few years. For me, it's a chance to identify academics who are investigating issues that are being discussed and decided upon by decision-makers and regulators inside the beltway. Hopefully, I'll be leaving with a rolodex full of new contacts and a briefcase full of papers.

Proceedings are just about to start...

I'm currently at the 2007 Community Wireless Infrastructure Research Project (CWIRP) Workshop in Toronto, Canada. The Workshop brings together a fantastic group of community wireless practitioners and researchers to swap ideas, research findings, and action plans. Participants include folks from CANARIE, City of Fredericton, City of Toronto, Columbia University, Concordia University, Ethos Wireless Consulting, Île Sans Fil (Montreal), K-Net (Northern Ontario), Ontario Ministry of Government Services, Ottawa Gatineau Wi-Fi, New America Foundation (Wireless Future Program), Pennsylvania State University, Ryerson University, University of San Francisco, University of Toronto, Wireless Nomad, Wireless Toronto, York University, and others. I'm looking forward to a great couple days.

UPDATE01: I was just introduced to International Community Wireless expert, Mimi Gabor -- fantastic lady.

Strategy Workshop to discuss the COMMONS (Cooperative Measurement and Modeling of Open Networked Systems) initiative

Final workshop report for the COMMONS (Cooperative Measurement and Modeling of Open Networked Systems) Workshop held in December, 2006, authored by: Sascha Meinrath, CAIDA, sascha @ caida.org kc claffy, CAIDA, kc @ caida.org

Executive Summary

On December 12-13, 2006, the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) held a workshop to discuss and ultimately propose a collaboration among researchers and networks to simultaneously solve three acute and growing problems facing the Internet: a self-reported financial crisis in the Internet infrastructure provider industry that poses a severe threat to broadband growth and U.S. competitiveness; a data acquisition crisis which has deeply stunted the field of network science; and a dilemma within emerging community, municipal, regional, and state networks, who need (additional) broadband connectivity but face severely limited provider, service level, and usage options. The Cooperative Measurement and Modeling of Open Networked Systems (COMMONS) initiative proposes to build or partner with a collaborative national backbone to connect participating community, municipal, regional, and state networks to one another and to the global Internet. COMMONS Peering will be conditionally available to city, county, state, and federal government entities, academic institutions, community Internet initiatives (e.g., community wireless networks), and commercial entities based upon the following three conditions: (1) networks will make select operational data available to COMMONS researchers (under appropriate legal data sharing and privacy guards); (2) the attached networks must agree to develop and abide by COMMONS policies which will be based upon research results of empirical data analyses of network usage; and, (3) participating networks must abide by the Acceptable Use Policies set by the COMMONS project coordination committee.

CAIDA hosted 40 networking visionaries from across North America at the UCSD campus to discuss technical, policy, and operational issues related to the COMMONS initiative. This "COMMONS Strategy Workshop" brought together representatives from industry, community and municipal networks, regional and state networks, as well as Internet researchers, community organizers, and developers building next-generation data communications technologies. Workshop participants also included heads of research, infrastructure, media, and policy organizations, as well as telecommunications lawyers. The diversity of workshop participants helped ensure that all major project stakeholders were represented in the proceedings and provided invaluable insights into the potential pitfalls and opportunities the COMMONS Project faces in coming years.

At a time when research on broadband service provision is desperately needed to help forge new national telecommunications policies and inspire innovation in networking technologies [1], the COMMONS Project is an innovative platform that will provide vital research results for policy makers across the country and around the world. This report describes the findings from the COMMONS Strategy Workshop, outlines a set of relevant open research problems identified by participants, and concludes with recommendations that will benefit the scientific community, network operators and developers, key decision-makers, and the general populace.

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