1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2009

September 2009

Smart grid's new world of partnerships

For telecom service providers to play an active role in the smart grid market, they have to embrace partnerships - with new partners and existing partners working in new ways. Although there are some areas of overlap, service providers are actively seeking out partnerships with device makers like OpenPeak, systems integrators such as Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco, and other technology players specific to the grid, including SmartSynch, Current Group and Ambient and Itron. Telecom and utility companies are no strangers to partnerships, and the two industries' trajectories are actually quite reminiscent of each other, according to Shahid Ahmed, Accenture's networks global lead. From a regulatory, technology and consumer-need standpoint, the breakup of big players and gradual breakdown of regulation, the spectrum options, the new entrants - the industries' growth mirror one another and suggest partnership could benefit both.

Government should help widen cyber knowledge

[Commentary] Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last month warned that our government must move quickly from a cyber 1.0 world to cyber 3.0 and beyond if we are to protect federal computer networks from attacks. This means building a highly skilled workforce, Napolitano acknowledged. "How do we grow our own cyber experts who will work within a government framework, and how do we make sure we will recruit and retain top talent?" she asked. It's a positive development that Napolitano is asking these questions, but other government leaders also must start paying close attention to the cyber workforce. A comprehensive, integrated strategy is needed to overcome the talent deficit. First, the administration must assess its short- and long-term workforce needs, develop a governmentwide blueprint to recruit, hire and retain top cybersecurity talent, and then aggressively implement it. This plan should provide guidance on the appropriate roles for civil servants and private contractors. Next, the White House should lead a campaign to encourage universities to offer, and students to pursue, cybersecurity educational programs. Congressional funding should be increased to expand scholarships in computer science and cybersecurity in return for a commitment to government service. The administration must create up-to-date cybersecurity job classifications, establish first-class technical certification requirements for each cyber discipline and map a cybersecurity career path starting at the entry level. There must be a big investment in training, the development of managers with the skills to lead a multisector workforce, and hiring flexibilities to expedite recruitment of top talent. The time is overdue for the government to commit the resources and exert the leadership to build and nurture a highly skilled cyber workforce.

Digital tools let doctors see patients via Internet

Thanks to factors including a looming physician shortage, the health care reform debate and the increasing willingness of insurance companies to pay for the practice, telehealth is on the verge of becoming routine. In the near future you could be connected by video to a specialist dozens or hundreds of miles away. Consider something as mundane as a skin rash. If your primary care doctor thinks she needs outside expertise, she can use digital diagnostic tools to generate high-resolution images of the rash and beam them to a dermatologist in another office for rapid diagnosis. Remote consultation and diagnosis are ways for medicine to become more efficient even as physicians and other health professionals are increasingly in short supply, policy experts say. For patients living away from advanced hospitals in urban areas, they add, it's potentially lifesaving. Telehealth systems can screen patients for diabetes, eye disease, kidney problems, nerve damage, vascular disease and complicated pregnancies. The technology is available and relatively inexpensive. It's the regulatory hurdles that present the challenge, experts say.

Radio's Public Option

[Commentary] Putting aside socialism, the health care debate or fracas as it is turning into or how you feel about President Obama, radio is in need of the "public option." There are many who believe the radio industry has become ill under consolidation. Radio is not towers and transmitters as the consolidators would have you believe, it is a local medium that could be terrestrial, could be mobile, could be on the web or anywhere else local content is desired as new generations emerge. The public option calls for basic regulation -- increased and renewed involvement -- from the Federal Communications Commission.

Glenn Beck = MSM

Glenn Beck's recent successes in getting Van Jones to leave the White House, a member of the National Endowment for the Arts reassigned, and pushing ACORN out of next year's census are more examples that the "right-wing noise machine" is no more. It is now part and parcel of the mainstream media.

Senate Weighs New Shield Law

The Senate Judiciary Committee this week will take up a new version of a reporter shield law. The bipartisan-backed legislation, which establishes a qualified privilege for reporters to withhold the names of confidential sources who provide information under promise of confidentiality, has been the subject of intensive lobbying by media companies for years. The companies were reacting to an increase in the number of subpoenas to reporters during the Bush administration, including the highly publicized case involving disclosure of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, a covert CIA officer. Though a similar bill passed the House on March 31, as it had in 2007, the shield legislation has had trouble gaining traction in the Senate, due mainly to Republican opposition. Former president George W. Bush as well as the Justice Department under his administration also opposed the legislation.

Mayfield Nominated for National Council on the Arts

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Irvin Mayfield, Jr to be a Member of the National Council on the Arts. Mayfield is a jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and Artistic Director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. He began his career as co-leader of the Afro-Latin jazz group Los Hombres Calientes for which he received a Grammy nomination and Billboard's Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year award in 2000. Mr. Mayfield has produced a number of solo albums and tours nationally and internationally as the leader of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Outside of his work in the arts, Mr. Mayfield is extensively involved in public service and academics. He is the first musician to sit on the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce and is the current Chair of the New Orleans Public Library board. He also serves or has served as a member of The Louisiana Rebirth Advisory Board, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, and Louisiana State University's Psychiatric Department Board. In 2008, Mr. Mayfield founded the New Orleans Jazz Institute at the University of New Orleans, where he serves as a professor and Artistic Director. The program follows the Institute of Jazz Culture at Dillard University, which Mayfield established in 2002. In 2003, State and local governments in Louisiana named Mr. Mayfield the official Cultural Ambassador of the City of New Orleans.

Wood Named MAP Associate Director

Media Access Project has named Matthew Wood as new associate director. He is formerly with the law practice of Hogan & Hartson and before that Dow, Lohnes & Albertson. His background includes broadband deployment as well as cable programming contract negotiation, new tech issues, wireless spectrum, universal service and more.


Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room)
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

October 9, 2009
10:00 am

Contact:
Jonathan Levy
Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis
Jonathan.Levy@fcc.gov
(202) 418-2048
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-293846A1.doc

Moderating Panel:
Jonathan Baker, Chief Economist, FCC
Scott Wallsten, Economics Director, Adoption Group, Omnibus Broadband Initiative

Agenda

10:00 am -- Workshop Introduction, Jonathan Baker

10:05 am -- Panel Presentations:

  • Judith A. Chevalier, William S. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Economics, Yale School of Management
  • Joseph Farrell, Director, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission
  • Shane Greenstein, Elinor and Wendell Hobbs Professor of Management and Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
  • Marius Schwartz, Professor of Economics, Georgetown University
  • Carl Shapiro, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice Department

11:20 pm -- Panelist Discussion and Responses to Questions

11:55 p.m. -- Closing Statements, Moderator

Noon -- Adjournment

Consumer and firm demand for broadband and provider supply of broadband services are both influenced by the extent of competition among broadband providers. Competition can deliver low prices and high quality services to buyers, and influence the scope and timing of provider investments and innovation.

This workshop will explore the extent to which broadband providers currently exercise market power today, the prospects for new competition, strategies the FCC and other governmental actors can employ to foster competition and entry, and regulatory strategies that might help prevent harms to social welfare in markets not likely to become competitive soon.

  • Do broadband providers currently exercise market power? How does the answer vary by type of customer and geographic region?
  • What are the prospects for new broadband competition from wireless and electricity providers? Are any other types of entry on the horizon?
  • What strategies should the FCC and other governmental actors employ to foster broadband competition and entry?
  • What regulatory strategies would protect competition and consumers in broadband markets not performing competitively? What conduct by broadband monopolists or duopolists would be particularly troublesome? Can that conduct be prohibited at low cost in production efficiency, and without discouraging investment and innovation or distorting competition in unregulated markets?

Federal Communications Commission
Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room)
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

September 30, 2009
9:00 am

Contact:
Jennifer Manner
Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau
Jennifer.Manner@fcc.gov
(202) 418-3619
http://broadband.gov/ws_cyber_security.html

FCC Participants:

  • Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker
  • Robert Cannon, Senior Counsel for Internet Law, Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis
  • Jean Ann Collins, Deputy Division Chief, Communications Systems Analysis Division, PSHSB
  • Jeffery Goldthorp, Chief, Communications Systems Analysis Division, PSHSB
  • Richard Hovey, Telecommunications Systems Specialist, Communications Systems Analysis Division, PSHSB
  • Jennifer Manner, Deputy Chief, PSHSB
  • Jon Peha, Chief Technology Officer

Panel 1

  • John Nagengast, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives for AT&T Government Solutions, AT&T
  • Richard Pethia, Director, CERT, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Don Welch, CEO & President, Merit Network, Inc.

Panel 2

  • Marc Donner, Engineering Director, Google Health, Google Finance; AdWords Engineering
  • Dale Drew, VP for Security, Level 3
  • Andy Ogielski, President, Renesys
  • Allan Sadowski, IT Director, North Carolina State Highway Patrol (via teleconference)
  • Greg Schaffer, Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Communications (CS&C), Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

The Commission's National Broadband Plan Notice of Inquiry sought comment on a variety of public safety and homeland security concerns, including interoperability, redundancy, cyber security, 911, and pandemic response. The Cyber Security Workshop will examine the nation's ability to prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks and how broadband technology can enhance the nation's cyber security efforts. The workshop will also look at the challenges that broadband technologies can bring to cyber security efforts. The workshop will bring together representatives from the public safety community, government agencies, industry, and academia to discuss these issues. The first panel will focus on which broadband technologies, tools, and innovations are needed to prevent cyber attacks on the nation's critical communications infrastructure. It will also focus on the cultures and policies that are needed for those technological innovations and tools to work effectively. The second panel will focus on which broadband technologies, tools, and innovations are needed to detect cyber attacks and to restore communications systems after an attack occurs. It will also focus on the cultures and policies that are needed for those technological innovations and tools to work effectively.

Panel 1 - How Broadband Technologies, Tools and Innovations Can Aid in Preventing Cyber Attacks on the Nation's Critical Communications Infrastructure

Key Questions:

  • What steps are being taken and should be taken to secure the nation's most vulnerable broadband facilities and data transfers from cyber threats such as espionage, disruption and denial of service attacks?
  • To what extent have market forces alone resulted in more favorable cyber security for the nation's critical communications infrastructure and how will this trend develop? Or have markets provided insufficient incentives for sufficient security investments?
  • Should the broadband service providers who provide and service the nation's critical communications infrastructure be required to adhere to specific standards or best practices to minimize threats and if so, what should those be, who should determine what those are and what sorts of procedures should be adopted to ensure that they are adhered to?
  • Could traditional reliability techniques like physical diversity or redundancy be applied to promote and improve cyber security? If so, how?
  • How can commercial broadband service providers and government agencies create synergistic collaborations in order to enhance cyber security efforts? How are Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) or other information sharing initiatives working regarding cyber security? What improvements, changes or additional resources are needed?
  • Should the Commission adopt a process whereby communications providers can certify their compliance with those standards or best practices? What would some of the attributes of such a process be? What value would be conveyed by granting certification?
  • How can United States government agencies improve interagency coordination regarding cyber security?
  • What non-governmental agencies or associations are working on cyber security and what are they doing in this regard?
  • What steps need to be taken to better secure broadband and data transmissions?

Panel 2 - How Broadband Technologies, Tools and Innovations Can Aid in Detecting Cyber Attacks and Aid in Restoring Systems After Attacks Occur

Key Questions:

  • What sorts of data are commercial communications providers analyzing to alert them to a cyber attack? What sorts of data should they be analyzing?
  • How have intrusion detection systems improved over the years? Are they keeping pace with the threat environment? What do we need to do to ensure these systems operate effectively to keep up with the threat environment?
  • How has the communications industry's ability to respond to cyber attacks improved over the years? Is it taking more or less time to bring an attack under control? Why or why not? What do we need to continue doing or start doing so that attacks are brought under control in a timely manner in order to mitigate damages?
  • How should commercial communications providers work together to mitigate the effects of an attack? How are these mechanisms working today? How do we expect them to function in the future?
  • How can commercial broadband service providers and government agencies create synergistic collaborations in order to enhance cyber security efforts?
  • How can United States government agencies improve interagency coordination in response to cyber security attacks?
  • What non-governmental agencies or associations are working on cyber security and what are they doing in this regard?

Agenda (Preliminary)

9:00 am Welcome: Rear Admiral James Arden Barnett, Jr. (Ret.), Bureau Chief (9:00 AM-9:15 AM)

9:30 am Panel 1 - How Broadband Technologies, Tools and Innovations Can Aid in Preventing Cyber Attacks on the Nation's Critical Communications Infrastructure, Kenneth Moran, Moderator, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief

Total Presentation Time: 75 Minutes (9:30 AM-10:45 AM)

Summary: This panel will focus on which broadband technologies, tools, and innovations are needed to detect cyber attacks and to restore systems after an attack occurs. It will also focus on the policies that are needed for those technological innovations and tools to work effectively.

11:00am Panel 2 - How Broadband Technologies, Tools and Innovations Can Aid in Detecting Cyber Attacks and Aid in Restoring Systems After Attacks Occur

Total Presentation Time: 75 minutes (11:00 AM - 12:15 PM)

Summary: This panel will focus on which broadband technologies, tools, and innovations are needed to prevent cyber attacks on the nation's critical communications infrastructure. It will also focus on the cultures and policies that are needed for those technological innovations and tools to work effectively

12:15 pm Conclusion: Jennifer Manner, Deputy Bureau Chief, PSHSB (12:15 PM-12:30 PM)


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