February 26, 2007, 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Room: 32D-677
MIT, Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS)
(Stata Center, Dreyfoos tower, 6th floor conference room)

Speakers:
Paul B. Vasington
Verizon Director - State Public Policy

and

Erle Pierce
Verizon Vice President, New Hampshire

Net Neutrality can be viewed in two simple ways.  The view recently expressed by Bob Kahn is that the Internet is nothing more than an interconnection of networks, thus anything that allows interconnection using TCP/IP is acceptable.  The second view is that of Dave Clark at MIT or Vint Cerf at Google, which is centered around the hourglass metaphor, keep the middle simple and put all intelligence at the edge.  A second view is predicated on legal principles of property.  The carrier views the network as their property and they can do whatever they want with it.  The user views the packet as their personal property and the carrier can only move it from point A to point B.  In an attempt to provide insight to some of these issue LIDS is sponsoring a set of talks by the various interested parties.  The first is by Verizon.

Verizon will give a talk on its position on “net neutrality.  Verizon supports and protects the consumer’s right to full Internet access, but “net neutrality” legislation is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.  Net neutrality is, in fact, just “net regulation,” i.e., government intervention.  This isn’t what consumers want or the Internet needs.  “Net regulation” would freeze advancements and the evolution of the Internet.  Instead of “net regulation” policymakers should focus on broadband deployment.

Paul Vasington is a Director of State Public Policy for Verizon.  Mr. Vasington was formerly Chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE), the utility commission for Massachusetts.  He was appointed to the commission in February 1998, and was designated as Chairman in May 2002.  Mr. Vasington also worked for the Massachusetts Commission as an analyst from 1990 to 1992 and as Director of the Telecommunications Division from 1992 to 1996.  From 1996 to 1998 and from 2003 to 2005, Mr. Vasington worked as a consultant with a focus on the regulated telephone and energy industries.  Mr. Vasington is a graduate of Boston College and has a Master’s in Public Policy degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Erle Pierce is Verizon New Hampshire’s vice president for Government and Public Affairs.  He oversees the company’s legislative policy issues in New Hampshire as well as community and media relations’ initiatives.  He is a thirty-two year veteran of the telephone industry with a background in network operations, strategic business planning, community economic development initiatives, corporate philanthropy, media relations, and government affairs.  Mr. Pierce grew up and was educated in Vermont schools and colleges.  He is active in community affairs in and around Concord, New Hampshire, sitting on several non-profit and business advisory boards of directors.  He and his wife Judy reside just outside of Concord in Bow, New Hampshire.  They are parents of two grown children and grandparents of a very cute, and extremely precocious, little girl.

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS – Deadline extended

Atlanta Conference on Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2007
October 19-20, 2007, Global Learning Center, Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

“Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation in the Changing Global Economy”

The landscape of global innovation is shifting, with new problems and actors emerging on the scene. National governments are looking for new strategies, and they are turning to the science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy research community for models and research results to tell them what works and what doesn’t, under what circumstances. The Atlanta Conference provides an opportunity for the global STI policy research and user communities to test models of innovation, explore emerging STI policy issues, and share research results.

The Program Committee of the Atlanta Conference (ATLC07) invites proposals for full papers or poster presentations that shed light on the emerging issues of science, technology, and innovation in global economy and society. Areas for submission include, but are not limited to:

• Innovation in new forms and formats; markets, organizations, and industries in transition
• Emerging global networks of scientific communication
• Workforces and workplaces of science and technology; career opportunities for scientists and engineers
• Government policies for encouraging knowledge based and learning economies, North and South
• Intellectual property regimes for supporting innovation in different national contexts
• Globalisation of R&D and changing roles of transnational corporations and government policies
• Impacts of China and India in the global innovation ecology
• Innovation to address global energy, environmental, and health challenges
• Localization and globalization of careers for scientists and engineers
• Science and technology in governance and the governance of science and technology
• Emerging technologies, emerging societal responses

For full paper presentations, authors should submit an extended abstract of up to two pages, detailing research questions, methods, and the expected status of results at the time of the meeting. For poster presentations, a one-paragraph abstract is sufficient, with an indication of the expected state of results at the time of the meeting. Full papers will be expected by September 15, 2007 and will be included in the conference proceedings.

Deadline for submission: March 1, 2007, to atlantaconference@pubpolicy.gatech.edu.