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Public Policy Initiatives

As digital communications become the basis for national economies, they profoundly impact all sectors of society. Because communication services and networking innovations are developing so rapidly with a profound impact on society, iCAIR has established a number of public policy initiatives related to large-scale digital communications, such as national, international, state-wide, and metro-area next-generation communications infrastructure projects. These activities ensure that the best new services, technologies, and solutions migrate quickly into broader communities, such as commerce, health care, government, education, and other economic sectors.

Also, the Center has worked with other policy forums, such as the Internet Society, which addresses public policy issues related to the global Internet community, and private foundation initiatives, such as the Benton Foundation and McArthur Foundation, which also address these issues.

iCAIR's partnerships provide crucial additional expertise and support and ensure that innovative technologies and solutions migrate quickly into broader communities, such as commerce, health care, government, education, and other economic sectors.

International Policies

The Center has been involved in a wide range of projects related to developing international policies related to advanced Internet infrastructure and has also worked with policymakers in various countries on projects related to domestic policy issues, e.g., comparisons among various policy approaches in different countries.

Federal Communications Policy

Federal policy topics include many issues related to transitioning from traditional modes of communication to new digital services provided through a ubiquitous infrastructure that is "always on" and always available at any location and, increasingly, on any communications device. In particular, the Center focuses on issues related to creating new advanced infrastructure that supports emerging digital communication services. iCAIR has organized presentations on these issues to House Commerce and Judiciary Committee staff members. iCAIR also participates in national forums on communication policy and national economics.

Regional Communications Policies

 Regional issues are formulated within the context of integrated economic development within communities of common interest. The iCAIR community has worked with regional advanced networking initiatives for many years, partly through its partnership with the Metropolitan Research and Education Network (MREN), a seven-state regional advanced network. Other initiatives focused on various state regions.

State Communications Policies

iCAIR Center has been involved in several Illinois policy initiatives related to developing digital communications infrastructure and facilities that support the State's digital economy. iCAIR has participated in several Governor's Illinois Broadband Taskforce initiatives. In addition, iCAIR has been involved in many public policy initiatives in partnership with several Northwestern University organizations, including the Kellogg School of Management and the Communications Systems Program, such as symposiums on telecommunications policy in the State of Illinois.

These forums aim to educate state law makers, ICC staff and other constituencies involved in writing the state telecommunications law. Illinois has been a "bellwether" state for communications policy development, often leading nationally in new policy formulation issues.

Illinois Century Network (ICN)

iCAIR not only presents policy information but it also is involved with State-wide implementation projects. For example, the Center supported the creation of the state-wide Illinois Century Network (ICN), which provides for advanced internet services to the educational community in Illinois and state agencies. This project began as an education-only network initiative but later expanded to a full-service advanced state-wide network for all agencies.

The ICN provides telecommunications backbone services supporting high-performance access for schools, libraries, colleges, universities, museums, and local government and state agencies. iCAIR participated in developing policies and advanced engineering concepts for a major upgrade to the ICN, including planning for dark fiber provisioning and wavelength-based services. The Center also participated in formulating the policies that led to funding the I-WIRE project, Illinois Wire/Wireless Infrastructure for Research and Education.

Metropolitan Communications Policies

Increasingly, next-generation optical metro networks are being recognized as key enablers for all sectors of digital economies. Metro areas have always been major economic centers, and traditionally, metro governments have enabled their economies by assisting in creating large-scale infrastructure. As a transportation nexus, a city typically enables the creation of roads, bridges, canals, railroads, and airports. Cities also enable the development and implementation of critical utility infrastructure, such as power grids and water mains. However, the new economy is based on efficient digital information management. Many research studies, including by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, have demonstrated that appropriate implementation of information technology is a key productivity and economic enabler. Consequently, the critical large-scale infrastructure for the 21st-century economy comprises various systems that support digital communication services. Therefore, it is appropriate for cities to prepare for the 21st-century economy by leading initiatives in new digital communications policy, requirements definition, and large-scale digital communication infrastructure design and implementation.

iCAIR has been involved in multiple projects to develop policies related to planning and implementing large-scale digital communication infrastructure that assists cities in preparing for the digital economy. These projects relate to metro area strategic planning, removing artificial barriers to developing such infrastructure, creating infrastructure design and development policies, creating new types of financial models, and developing organizational partnerships that enable the creation of advanced infrastructure. Some of these policy activities indicate the importance of advanced digital communications infrastructure to metro economies and, more specifically, the recognition of general access to lightpaths as a key economic enabler.

iCAIR has participated in several City of Chicago public policy initiatives on digital communications, in part through the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors (MCTA), specifically the City's Information Technology Infrastructure (ITI) committee, which initiated several projects related to preparing the City for the new economy through establishing new communications infrastructure initiatives, including the development of strategic technology reports. These efforts were undertaken in partnership with the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), a non-profit, nonpartisan group of business leaders committed to serving the public interest by promoting and implementing sensible planning and development policies necessary for a world-class Chicago region.

Digital Cities ("Smart Cities")

iCAIR has participated in multiple global digital cities' public policy initiatives related to efforts that underscore the importance of large-scale communications infrastructure issues. iCAIR has assisted in organizing conferences on this topic, such as one funded by the National Science Foundation, on City policies and e-government, as part of the Great Cities initiative, centered at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The conference explored means by which information technology could enable the effective implementation of enhanced and new government services. Also, iCAIR participated in policy conferences on topics such as "Digital Communities: Cities in the Information Society" and presented its initiatives on metro policies related to the design and development of large-scale advanced networking infrastructure, including economic perspectives.

Policies Related Access to Wider Communities

Within the context of the iCAIR public policy activities related to advanced digital communication, the organization has been involved in a number of projects that have examined general issues related to access to all communities to advanced Internet technologies, especially the wider educational community. There is a wide range of issues to be addressed, ranging from general policy, to facilities within schools, to Internet access for educational institutions.