The Free State Foundation's Fourteenth Annual Policy Conference – #FSFConf14 – was held on May 6 in Washington D.C. The first conference panel featured current FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington as well as former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Among several topics discussed was monumental challenge facing NTIA as well as other federal and state agencies, in coordinating on the implementation massive broadband subsidy programs such as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program ("BEAD Program").
During the panel's conversation, Former Commissioner Clyburn emphasized "sharing of information" as being essential for implementing subsidy programs for expanding broadband Internet to unserved and underserved areas, promoting adoption, and other broadband-related purposes. She emphasized the need for the agencies to ensure that efficiencies are being realized: "One way we realize that is information being shared in a workable sort of clearinghouse manner, where all of it is on the table... That helps deployment, that helps with efficiency, that helps with ensuring that these programs are as waste fraud and abuse free as possible."
A few days after #FSFConf14, several federal agencies jointly announced the May 9 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") in order to "collaborate around the collection and reporting of certain data and metrics broadband derived from programs administered by the FCC, the programs administered by the Rural Utilities Services of the USDA, the programs administered by or coordinated through NTIA, and the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CFP) and the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) administered by Treasury (Covered Data)."
Hopefully, NTIA and other agencies that are parties to the MOU will have a fruitful exchange of information to ensure that their respective broadband subsidy programs are effectively implemented to expand broadband access to unserved Americans and achieve other program goals.
At #FSFConf14, former Commissioner Clyburn also offered insights on the beneficial uses of information sharing: "[t]he sharing of intelligence will make it easier to reduce intentional fraud and abuse." Also, "[u]sing and incorporating analytical tools will help mitigate risk and hold wrongdoers accountable" as well as for "[i]dentifying and excluding companies that have applied for multiple loans, or have applications other than in the same name, or are using the same IP address, and checking the banking history." From the beginning, as we are getting firmer grounding from all of these agencies, including the FCC, all of those things need to be in place and in front of mind. Everyone wants this to work."
(*Note: The #FSFConf14 quotes contained in this blog are based on an unofficial, edited transcription made by the author of this blog. The edits were made for purposes of readability but none of the meaning was changed in doing so.)
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