1. Monthly archive
  2. December 2016

December 2016

Chairman Wheeler's Response to Sen Warner (D-VA) Regarding the Security of the Nations Networks

On Oct 25, 2016, Sen Mark Warner (D-VA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to express his concern over the past few months of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. He submitted several questions about DDoS attacks, the security of the nation's networks, and the equipment and devices that attach to the networks to deliver integrated Internet-powered services to citizens and businesses. On Dec 2, 2016, Chairman Wheeler responded by assuring the Open Internet Order affirms ISPs' ability to take measures to protect the network. Chairman Wheeler recalled the efforts the FCC has taken, which has resulted in a rich body of recommendations, including voluntary best practices.

NIST's Innovation Accelerator Program Announces $30 million Grant Program to ‘Pull the Future Forward’ for Public Safety

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) has announced a $30 million grant funding opportunity to accelerate research, development, production, and testing of key broadband technologies and capabilities for first responders.

According to the funding opportunity announcement, eligible applicants include institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, state and local governments, Indian tribes, hospitals, foreign public entities, and foreign governments. Applications must be submitted to Grant.gov by February 28, 2017.

Kellyanne Conway, Trusted Trump Adviser, Named Counselor To The President

President-elect Donald Trump has named his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, to a senior White House job as counselor to the president. Conway has been a trusted adviser and frequent spokesperson for the president-elect. She was the third and final manager of the successful Trump campaign, and credited with bringing some much-needed discipline to both the campaign's message and the candidate himself. There had been some question about whether Conway would end up in the White House. She has spoken openly about the challenge of balancing such a job with raising four children, and suggested she might prefer to serve the incoming president from outside the administration.

Conway: Trump White House will engage with press on 'daily basis'

Newly appointed counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said that the incoming White House will have a more or less traditional relationship with the media. "This will be a traditional White House in the sense that you will have a great deal of press availability on a daily basis and you'll have a president who continues to be engaged with the press," Conway said.

The assurance from one of President-elect Donald Trump's most senior advisers comes as other members of Trump's senior staff have said that there might be changes coming to how the White House interacts with the media, from doing away with the daily briefing to rearranging the seating in the briefing room. Conway also said that they will soon announce who will fill the positions of press secretary, communications director and other senior members of the communications team. Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer is the heavy favorite for the press secretary post, though Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle is also likely to be offered a position on the team in an ancillary role, apparently.

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