Re: [agenda] eGov IG Call, 25 Nov 2009

If R&D funding plans in U.S. are considered germane, perhaps the list will find this of interest:

Panelists at FCC Workshop Debate Agency’s Role in Funding Broadband Research

Broadband Data, National Broadband Plan

Eli Evans, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandBreakfast.com

WASHINGTON, November 25, 2009 – In a workshop held Monday at the Federal Communications Commission, academics and industry leaders outlined their concerns and suggestions about the upcoming national broadband plan. The workshop, organized by the FCC’s national broadband taskforce, sought answers to specific questions about how research funding can propel technology innovation.

“You asked about the state of research funding for broadband related research,” commented David Clark, senior research scientist at MIT. “Overall, I believe the level of funding for network research… has been inadequate to meet the needs of the nation and certainly the research community.”

Clark continued that “I see bright students, receiving Ph.D.s in the field, choosing not to go into academia because they see the job of a junior faculty member, even at a prestigious university, as difficult and unrewarding.”

“It makes most sense for industry to invest in research when it can appropriate the results of that work. Enhancements that might advance the state of the world as a whole, but not the player that funded the research, are hard to justify in an industrial lab.”

Therefore, he said, “federally-funded research is more likely to result… in socially beneficial outcomes.”

Federal funding would allow people to focus on research instead of lobbying for grants. An additional benefit is increased impartiality by researchers. Privately-funded research will inherently favor the interests of the benefactor, suggests Clark, while federal funding would help resolve this problem.

At this point in time, however, it is unclear what kind of role the FCC will be allowed to play in promoting and funding research.

“The FCC does not have in its charter any kind of grant-making responsibility?” questioned Clark. “If the FCC wanted to be in the grant-making business, then the question is, would Congress go along with that?”

Other panelists also felt that collaborative research and increased understanding are essential to the future success of the United States in broadband technologies.

“I just think that at the end of the day we need to make very sure that we understand that technology races ahead, people struggle to catch up, and policy is somewhere back here,” said Mike Nelson of the Communications Culture and Technology Program of Georgetown University.

“If we have the world’s best technology, and we don’t have any understanding of how the policy, and the psychology, and the economics affect the employment, then we haven’t done our job,” continued Nelson.

“It’s really great to talk about how we collaborate between the great research that you [the specialists] do and the mainstream,” said Erik Garr, on the FCC’s national broadband taskforce.

Garr said that increasing the availability of broadband network is a key way to increase communication and overall effectiveness of the high-speed internet ecosystem.

Marcus Weldon of Bell Labs reminded the group that to achieve these aims, “grand challenge” ideas must be focused on. These overarching ideals might help provide a driving force idea as the National Broadband Plan develops. The plan is due for release on February 17, 2010.

Regards,
Michael Aisenberg
MITRE/DC
Sent from handheld. MAA

----- Original Message -----
From: public-egov-ig-request@w3.org <public-egov-ig-request@w3.org>
To: chris-beer@grapevine.net.au <chris-beer@grapevine.net.au>
Cc: eGovIG IG <public-egov-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Wed Nov 25 08:49:02 2009
Subject: Re: [agenda] eGov IG Call, 25 Nov 2009

Thanks, Chris.
Hm... I didn't add this to the agenda because it could easily eat the  
whole telcon (as the mailing list thread demonstrates). I prefer  
people to keep on discussing on the mailing list for now. We could  
maybe touch on it if we have some time left today anyway...

-- Jose


El 24/11/2009, a las 11:38, Chris Beer escribió:
> Hi Jose
>
> I'd add in the debate on the list stemming from the last call -  
> Defining "Open" Data
>
> Cheers
>
> Chris
>
> Jose Manuel Alonso wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Chairs haven't heard agenda requests from IG Members, so we put  
>> together the one below. Feel free to make comments or send  
>> suggestions now or even at the beginning of the call.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Jose.
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>> Agenda, eGov IG Call, 25 Nov 2009
>> 13:00Z (9:00EST, 14:00GMT, 15:00CET)
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Chair: Jose
>> Regrets: John
>>
>> 1. Scribe [2min]
>> + need a volunteer, please!
>>
>> 2. Agenda adjustments and next meetings [2min]
>> + next meetings: 9 Dec 2009, 23 Dec 2009??
>> + next scribe
>>
>> 3. Introducing the Projects Page [5min]
>> http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/wiki/Projects

>>
>> 4. Web Site [15min]
>> http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/track/actions/82

>> http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/track/actions/83

>> + not possible to install a new tool
>> + let's try to go wiki all the way
>>
>> 5. What's going on / coming up [20min]
>> + TPAC 2009
>> + ISWC
>> + Open Knowledge Foundation event [13 Nov 2009, London]
>> + Jurix Conference
>> + PdF Europe 2009
>> + O'Reilly Expo?
>> + FOSE 2010
>>
>> 6. Discussion: Government Linked Data, Techniques and Technologies  
>> [35min]
>> + how does linked data support (non-RDF) data consumers?
>> + strategies for modelling government data
>> + essential metadata for Government Linked Open Data (eg VoiD)
>> + expressing rights and licensing information
>> + approaches to provenance, authority and trust
>> + using RDF for Statistical Data
>>
>>
>> Who can participate:
>> http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/participation

>>
>> How to participate:
>> http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/wiki/Teleconferences

>>
>> Notes,
>>
>> On the last group call five areas were discussed, as being the main  
>> work areas for the group over this year:
>>
>> - Government Linked Data, Techniques and Technologies
>> - Government Linked Data, Strategies and Success Stories
>> - Best Practices for using Web Technologies to Deliver Government  
>> Services
>> - Best Practices for Long-Term Government Data Management Issues
>> - Best Practices in Government Use of Social Media
>>
>> We agreed we would pick up on one each of these over the next set  
>> of group calls. This call will be addressing the first of these  
>> topics, "Techniques and Technologies for Government Linked Data".
>>
>>
>

Received on Friday, 27 November 2009 10:21:29 UTC