Blair Levin, a key technology policy adviser on the Obama transition, kicked off today's Congressional Internet Caucus State of the Net Conference. It's believed that this was the first on-the-record comments from the Obama transition on their innovation agenda. Levin said, in his relatively brief remarks, that this is the first time that he, himself, has been out of the "transition bubble."
Levin, the team leader of the technology, innovation and government reform task force, had a particular focus on the broadband stimulus plan.
He felt that the current reports on the stimulus are "off target." Mostly because there is still a lot of work to do with Congress and the fact that people are confusing it with national broadband goals.
Levin contends that this effort is part of something much bigger. "In thinking of broadband in the economic stimulus package, don't confuse a piece of puzzle with the puzzle," said Levin.
Broadband growth in this context is merely a key component of the overall economic recovery package, and Levin illustrated this by drawing a big circle that represented the holistic economic stimulus plan and then drew a smaller circle in the middle of the bigger one to show where broadband enhancements fit. In this context, any broadband effort has to be "timely, targeted and temporary", and, work within "existing structures".
Clearly, the "existing structures" comment was meant to set expectations about what companies will be relied on to support the plan; provide a simple rationale why; and, answer criticisms about "rewarding incumbents."
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that people are confusing it with national broadband goals.
Posted by: Daniel Thomas | July 11, 2012 at 10:40 PM