It was a simple question from a Viodi View reader, “What are you going to write about the conference?” I had been so busy filming videos for others that I hadn’t given much thought to all the buzz I had heard. I figured I better get a couple of interviews, which I could play on ViodiTV. Still, I didn’t necessarily have a crisp answer to the question I had posed to so many of the attendees regarding their respective take-aways from this information-packed conference. Then, sometime in the next 24-hours it came together for me. Unfortunately, what crystalized in my head isn’t quite ready for this issue, so, in the meantime……
Fiber as a Moral Obligation
The idea that fiber is a piece of infrastructure that is so fundamental that it becomes almost a moral obligation was one of the take-aways from a couple of panels moderated by Calix’s Geoff Burke. Burke was the moderator of panels that featured the FCC’s Chief of Strategy, Jonathan Chambers and Kelly Drye Partner, Tom Cohen. The premise is that the bandwidth, reliability and low-latency of fiber is necessary to ensure equality of opportunity – whether in education, ensuring an informed citizenry or more efficient governance.
Click here to read more and view.
A Network of Networks
With over 80,000 route miles of middle mile fiber and hundreds of points of presence, INDATEL and its partners have become an important part of the Internet infrastructure that connects the rural and urban parts of America. In this exclusive interview, INDATEL Executive Director, Max Huffman talks about the importance and challenges of interoperability with so many disparate mid and last mile networks.
Win for Taxpayers – CAF Funds Pulled Back
A win for taxpayers, as the FCC admitted they erred when awarding CAF money to census blocks that are already served by Co-Mo Connect and United Services. As reported last April by ViodiTV, Co-Mo Connect and United Services challenged the FCC’s distribution of CAF money to 1,023 census blocks; blocks that they serve with their respective FTTH services. After an initial rejection of their CAF challenge, the FCC ruled in favor of Co-Mo Connect and United Services of the CAF challenge. Co-Mo and United Services prove that independent operators have an important role to play in making sure the FCC understand the reality of their rural markets.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- Nice video extolling the virtues of Martin County, Florida featuring ITSFiber’s Jeff Leslie
- Volcano Telephone led the way with the sort of parallel robust power network described in this report.
- Walkability and rideability could be greatly enhanced by a robot that delivered packages, eliminating the need for a pedestrian or bicyclist to carry them. Maybe the founders of Skype will have a solution with this (or maybe larger) autonomous delivery truck.
The Korner -Higher Quality Governance Through ICT
San Jose, the 10th largest city in the U.S., recently hosted the WBA’s Conference. San Jose and its greater Silicon Valley region is a hotbed of innovation, boasting more patents per capita than any other region. As Khanh Russo, who spoke at the WBA event, explains the reason his position and department was recently created was to tap that brain power to find ways that the city of San Jose can better deliver services.
Russo, Director of Strategic Partnership and Innovation in the Office of the Mayor for the City of San Jose, describes a data-driven approach that takes advantage of technology and end-points to inexpensively gather data, analyze and deploy resources based on the data analysis. He describes a number of apps that have been developed that allow individuals to easily and accurately (e.g. GPS accuracy) report issues.
Click here to view the interview and read more about the apps and partnership that is helping San Jose live up to its moniker as capital of Silicon Valley.
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