FCC Chairman To Silicon Valley: We Need Your Best Ideas

In America's complicated business landscape, Silicon Valley is not an island. The innovations that come from the famous tech hotspot have the potential to boost economies nationwide. This was the message Wednesday from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, who addressed a group of entrepreneurs and investors at the offices of tech-blog network Giga Omni Media in San Francisco.

The Obama administration's ambitious goal of rolling out coast-to-coast broadband is not merely a plan to help Silicon Valley by better connecting the country's tech geeks. Better connectivity will be the very lifeblood of American business for decades to come, Chairman Genachowski said. "A robust, open broadband platform, available and used by all Americans, will be our engine for innovation, economic growth and job creation in the 21st century," he said.

To the tech community, Genachowski is anything but a faceless government bureaucrat. He earned his stripes in the private sector, holding a top post at IAC/InterActiveCorp. and co-founding start-up incubator LaunchBox Digital and investment firm Rock Creek Ventures. Ubiquitous broadband in America will be a crucial step in meeting some of the president's top policy goals, the chairman said, including improving healthcare, education and public safety. It will also lead to a more transparent, efficient and responsive government, he said. But the broadband rollout is already up against a significant hurdle: the availability of wireless spectrum to power the quickly evolving computers and handheld phones hitting the market.