Managing Complexity
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband, Building Information Modeling, Economy, Science and Engineering on December 27th, 2009
by Mark Hewitt
During our evolution as a species mankind has created social and political systems that have
The Games that People Play
tended to rise and fall based on complex systems. Complex systems tend to reach a point where failure is the only option as has recently been proven with our credit based economic system. Economists and fund managers have been making this statement for many years declaring our system of credit based currency to be unsustainable.
Complexity in currency is only one faucet of social and political complexity our system of laws and security fall into the same unsustainable path – one of my favorite speakers on this topic is Barry Schwartz – his TED presentation on our “Loss of Wisdom” sums up our human values and actions.
ABC did a couple of shows giving us an example of how Modern Game Theory helps us to understand the ebb and flow of not only ourselves but the things around us. In this show PrimeTime producers take six teams and set them free in Read the rest of this entry »
The US Broadband Coalition Adoption & Use Report
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband, Economy, Mobile VoIP, US Broadband Coalition on November 13th, 2009
Friday the 13th seems to be a day for good luck as the FCC holds a special meeting to accept and comment on the US Broadband Coalitions 
Adoption and Use report. Part of the FCC’s goal to see comments on the developing National Broadband Strategy.
You can find a copy of the Adoption and Use Report here –> Adoption & Use
You can watch the event via webcast from the FCC at 1:00 ~ 3:00 pm EST today –> FCC Webcast
If you find youself in Washingto DC today – you can attend in person: 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC
Case: Ave Maria Smart Campus
Posted by bbossert in Broadband, Building Information Modeling, Economy on October 22nd, 2009
Introduction:
Ave Maria is a town 20 minutes east of Naples and then 10 minutes south basically in the middle of the swamps. We all know about the success story of Domino’s pizza. Well the guy who started Dominos got tired of collecting airplanes apparently up in cold Michigan, and decided to create a town with a Christian values from scratch. A friend of mine contacted me and asked me to come down and meet Bryan Mehaffey who this post will discuss frequently. I had heard stories about how Ave Maria was a show case for Smart Building design. So both Mark Hewitt and I got in the car and made the trek from Sarasota Read the rest of this entry »
A SUGGESTED FLORIDA BROADBAND POLICY AND STRATEGY
Posted by Jim Tait in ARRA, Broadband, Economy, US Broadband Coalition on October 21st, 2009
by: Jim Tait
contributors: Mark Hewitt, John Reynolds, Jim Baller
Note: Since the original Florida Policy and Strategy discussion begun last spring, a number of developments have taken place. We have reviewed, as a state and individually, the first round of stimulus proposals affecting Florida for NTIA/BTOP grants. The FCC has reached almost the three-quarters point in developing the required National Broadband Strategy due February 19, 2010. Many of its inquiries are bearing fruit and provide significant data. In addition, many public and private partnerships have emerged, and more are developing, to capture the power for transformation of our economy and societal institutions provided by ubiquitous broadband access. As noted, however Read the rest of this entry »
Net Neutrality: Opened vs. Governed
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband on October 6th, 2009
Organized by Carl Ford: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has expanded from four to six the principles of freedom associated with Net Neutrality. Now however these principles are now going to be codified into regulatory rules. So the question has to be asked can the concept of Open be governed. Join us as we look at how these principles will be incorporated into policy. What companies, services and devices will be subject to these rules. And discuss if the jurisdiction of the FCC has to be modified to enable these principles.
Participants include: Todd Daubert of Kelley Drye and Hank Hultquist of AT&T.
Conference will be held on the CalliFlower platform – Net Neutrality
Florida Round One RUS/NTIA Applications
Over $863 Million dollar first round of Broadband Applications in Florida shows how critical access to high speed broadband fiber optic networks are to our economy, safety, health, and security.
As we await the federal release of the first round applicants and their “step one” scores for federal stimulus “Broadband grants,” we should be establishing a system to allow us and our compatriots, and certainly the public at large, an opportunity to assess “lessons learned” in this first round. It is critically important Read the rest of this entry »
A National Broadband Policy or a Chance to Learn From our Mistakes
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband on August 31st, 2009
In 1974 with the antitrust lawsuit against AT&T the U.S. Department of Justice started this country on a path of opening competition and innovation in communications technology. However, recent actions have led to the return of the “monopoly” or at least the worse of the “oligopolistic” practices in communications as over the past thirty years the Regional Bell Operating Companies (“RBOC’s”) reemerged back Read the rest of this entry »
BTOP Report to Congress Sets New Schedule
August 17th the BTOP quarterly program report to Congress provided a new schedule and objectives for the Broadband Stimulus program. The schedule and summary are kept current on the “Stimulus” tab of this blog.
Key points for anyone seeking an opportunity to file for the second tranche of Broadband Funding and a guide to the mine field of the instant broadband “experts” that seem to be popping up everywhere.
We will we collecting data and watching the progress of the first tranche very closely, our industry friends and DC experts will keep you posted. Check back here often for updated news and information.
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First Round of Funding Nets and Overwhelming Response
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband on August 29th, 2009
The numbers are in: 2,200 applications are requesting $27.6 billion in Round One of broadband stimulus funding.
The problem: There’s only $4.3 billion available.
With an excess of $23.3 billion in requests it is not going to be pretty.
According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), applications were submitted by a diverse range of applicants, including state, local and tribal governments; Read the rest of this entry »
Round One Broadband Stimulus is Done
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband on August 19th, 2009
The bell has sounded on round one of the Broadband Stimulus application process the doors closed Friday (August 14th, 2009) at 5:00 pm with an extension for electronic filing until this Thursday (August 20th, 2009) at 5:00 pm. Round two has already begun with a plethora of anticipated improvements in both the process and definitions. It may be important to remember that when Obama set the FCC in motion to stimulate the advancement of Broadband in our country it was to place us “Second to none” where today we at best might be ranked at 20th in the world for speed, affordability, and access to Read the rest of this entry »