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BroadbandCensus.com Executive Director Drew Clark to Co-Chair Working Group with Robert Atkinson of Information Technology & Innovation Foundation; Other Groups Announced

Press Release

WASHINGTON, January 10, 2009 - The National Broadband Strategy “Call to Action” on Friday announced the co-chairs of six working groups that are seeking to craft national policies to help promote universal broadband throughout the United States.

BroadbandCensus.com Executive Director Drew Clark will co-chair the working group on “Metrics” together with Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

Since its launch in January 2008, BroadbandCensus.com has been at the forefront of ensuring that information about local broadband deployment, competition, speeds and quality of service is available and publicly usable.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation think tank has been been a key player in the effort to formulate and promote public policies advancing technological innovation and productivity.

The National Broadband Strategy initiative has has been described as “an unprecedented display of consensus, a broad and diverse array of groups concerned about America’s broadband future,” and an effort aimed at “providing President-elect Obama and the incoming Congress a policy framework for a comprehensive national broadband strategy.”

The Working Group on “Metrics” has the following charge:

Timely, accurate, and trustworthy data on current and future deployment, adoption, and use of broadband connections to the Internet are essential at every step in the process of developing and implementing a National Broadband Strategy.  Good data are necessary to establish meaningful goals, to evaluate how well we are doing in meeting these goals, to make appropriate policy adjustments if we are not, to ensure accountability, and to compare our performance with that of other leading nations in an increasingly competitive global economy.  Service providers and investors need good data to make sound investments.  Users of broadband connections need good data to make wise choices among available options.  The mission of the Working Group on Metrics is to develop as much agreement as possible on the nature, quality, and timeliness of the data needed for all of these purposes, and on how such data should be collected and disseminated.

Co-Chairs:  Robert Atkinson (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation) and Drew Clark (Broadband Census)

The other working groups are on the need for a national broadband strategy, the goals of such a call to action, the national availability of broadband, adoption and use of broadband technologies, and implementation of a broadband policy.

The chairs of each groups are as follows:

• The Need for a National Broadband Strategy. Co-Chairs:  Jeff Campbell (Cisco) and Jonathan Rintels (Center for Creative Voices in the Media)
• Goals. Co-Chairs: Rick Cimerman (National Cable & Telecommunications Association) and John Windhausen (EDUCAUSE and American Library Association)
• Metrics. Co-Chairs:  Robert Atkinson (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation) and Drew Clark (Broadband Census)
• Availability. Co-Chairs:  Brent Olson (AT&T) and Ben Scott (Free Press)
• Adoption and Use. Co-Chairs: Charles Benton (Benton Foundation) and Link Hoewing (Verizon)
• Implementation. Co-Chairs:  Diane Duffy (Telcordia) and Geoff Daily (App-Rising)

The “Metrics” working group will seek to identify the best criteria to measure availability, adoption, cost, speed, etc., in order to establish a current baseline and measure progress in reaching goals/targets. The group will also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the broadband data collection and dissemination practices in the United States and abroad.

The group will also recommend techniques to collect, analyze, present, and disseminate data on broadband connectivity, and prepare for and participate in the Coalition’s event to be held in the Spring or early Summer of 2009.

Signatories to the National Broadband Strategy “Call for Action” will be invited to participate in the working groups. The strategy is being shepherded by James Baller of the Baller Herbst Law Group.

National Broadband Strategy References

• Politicians, organizations and companies that have called for a national broadband strategy.
• Signatories of the National Broadband Strategy “Call to Action”
• Working Groups of the National Broadband Strategy “Call to Action”
• Why BroadbandCensus.com Supports the National Broadband Strategy Statement (BroadbandCensus.com, December 5, 2008)