Event Title

Internet Investment After the Crisis

Location

Library, Carnegie Institution for Science

Event Website

http://ipsonet.org/web/page/512/sectionid/375/pagelevel/2/interior.asp

Start Date

4-12-2009 3:00 PM

End Date

4-12-2009 4:00 PM

Description

Chair: Guillermo Izabal, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Eric T. Weber
A Historical Mandate for Expanding Broadband Internet Infrastructure.

Abstract: In this paper I argue that the reasoning the American founders gave for establishing a Post Office and postal roads is also justification today for expanding broadband Internet infrastructure and services to people without coverage. I begin with a discussion of the Constitution and a description of my initial analogy. I then reveal the reasoning that a number of founders used to justify the creation of a Post Office. I also show that even the Confederate States of America found it necessary to set an even postage rate for their own postal service. Finally, I reply to critics of the Post Office for its limitations on competition for certain vital public services and structures and for its job of enabling the transmission of materials that some groups find offensive. My focus throughout is primarily on the matter of infrastructure expansion and the enabling of enhanced delivery of access to broadband Internet. I therefore leave the matter of how exactly services should best be delivered via an expanded infrastructure for a future project.

Darrene L. Hackler
Technology-Based Economic Development in Cities: The Logic of Broadband Investment in the Post-Boom Era.
Abstract: The drivers of economic development have altered over time, but in the post-boom era, talent or human capital and innovation that accompany entrepreneurship and research and development have become central tenets of successful regions. Broadband is the infrastructure that can allow these drivers to thrive more efficiently and effectively—from the telecommunications networks to the information technologies (the hardware and software components) that make broadband possible. State and local governments have begun to embrace technology-based economic development approaches that focus on both the intellectual infrastructure as well as the physical, like broadband with its high quality telecommunications systems and affordable high-speed capacity. The paper develops the logic of broadband investment to support local economic development. Governments must understand the current broadband climate, locally and at the state level. Broadband assessments that inventory broadband capacity and availability are essential to understanding the localities’ potential obstacles to investing in and the expansion of broadband. Local governments desiring broadband investment should examine assets and points of leverage within their local economies. However, cities must also understand the intergovernmental context as well as regulatory and legislative preemptions cities may face. Post-boom economic development requires investment in such an underlying and critical asset and facilitation of local broadband actions within the intergovernmental structure can improve the probability of successful local broadband investments.

Import Event to Google Calendar

 
Dec 4th, 3:00 PM Dec 4th, 4:00 PM

Internet Investment After the Crisis

Library, Carnegie Institution for Science

Chair: Guillermo Izabal, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Eric T. Weber
A Historical Mandate for Expanding Broadband Internet Infrastructure.

Abstract: In this paper I argue that the reasoning the American founders gave for establishing a Post Office and postal roads is also justification today for expanding broadband Internet infrastructure and services to people without coverage. I begin with a discussion of the Constitution and a description of my initial analogy. I then reveal the reasoning that a number of founders used to justify the creation of a Post Office. I also show that even the Confederate States of America found it necessary to set an even postage rate for their own postal service. Finally, I reply to critics of the Post Office for its limitations on competition for certain vital public services and structures and for its job of enabling the transmission of materials that some groups find offensive. My focus throughout is primarily on the matter of infrastructure expansion and the enabling of enhanced delivery of access to broadband Internet. I therefore leave the matter of how exactly services should best be delivered via an expanded infrastructure for a future project.

Darrene L. Hackler
Technology-Based Economic Development in Cities: The Logic of Broadband Investment in the Post-Boom Era.
Abstract: The drivers of economic development have altered over time, but in the post-boom era, talent or human capital and innovation that accompany entrepreneurship and research and development have become central tenets of successful regions. Broadband is the infrastructure that can allow these drivers to thrive more efficiently and effectively—from the telecommunications networks to the information technologies (the hardware and software components) that make broadband possible. State and local governments have begun to embrace technology-based economic development approaches that focus on both the intellectual infrastructure as well as the physical, like broadband with its high quality telecommunications systems and affordable high-speed capacity. The paper develops the logic of broadband investment to support local economic development. Governments must understand the current broadband climate, locally and at the state level. Broadband assessments that inventory broadband capacity and availability are essential to understanding the localities’ potential obstacles to investing in and the expansion of broadband. Local governments desiring broadband investment should examine assets and points of leverage within their local economies. However, cities must also understand the intergovernmental context as well as regulatory and legislative preemptions cities may face. Post-boom economic development requires investment in such an underlying and critical asset and facilitation of local broadband actions within the intergovernmental structure can improve the probability of successful local broadband investments.

http://www.psocommons.org/dupont_summit/2009/schedule/12