Policymakers

Kara Frederick, the Heritage Foundation’s director of tech policy, on her sweeping vision for re-imagining how conservatives relate to tech, including low earth orbit satellites (LEOs), Smart Cities, and generative artificial intelligence. She spoke about what the government could be doing but isn't, saying "Having a national data protection framework is also, to me, an extremely common-sense measure.

While city and state governments may move slowly, a nonprofit organization has the agility to convene people, test ideas, and work faster.

When the state of Kentucky made plans to award $300 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for broadband deployments, the priority was on getting high-speed service to the neediest areas first. “Our priority with the ARPA funding was reaching areas that had no service,” said Meghan Sandfoss, executive director of Kentucky’s Office of Broadband Development. The state awarded the $300 million in ARPA funding in two rounds.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau seeks nominations for the following Board member positions on the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) listed below for a three-year term. In addition to the six positions that are expiring as a matter of course at the end of 2024, the FCC also seeks nominations for two additional vacancies resulting from a resignation and carryover vacancy of USAC Board members. All nominations must be filed with the Office of the Secretary by October 28, 2024.

Danielle Thumann has rejoined FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr' office as Legal Advisor. Thumann previously served in this role from March 2021 until July 2023. She rejoins the office following a year in the private sector where she led on state and local government relations matters for a nationwide telecommunications infrastructure provider.  Before her first stint with Commissioner Carr’s office in 2021, Thumann was an Associate Attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilkinson Barker Knauer.

After Louisiana was the first state to have its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rural broadband funding released in late 2023, it was several months before any other states had their funding released. It looked like a sure bet that Louisiana would be the first to make BEAD awards—and, according to Louisiana Broadband Director Veneeth Iyengar, that’s still the case. Montana recently became the first state to begin accepting BEAD applications. Louisiana began accepting applications a few days later, on August 19.

When former President Barack Obama takes the stage at the Democratic National Convention, he’ll address a party that has done a major about-face on its relationship with technology since he left office. Hailed as the first “internet president” for his campaign’s embrace of then-nascent social media and blogs, Obama’s rise was inextricable from that of the digital landscape we now take for granted.

Montana’s broadband efforts took a leap forward when the state became first in the nation to open its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program application portal. “We’ve been working behind the scenes to be ready,” said Misty Ann Giles, Director of the Department of Administration and Chief Operating Officer for the state of Montana. And Montana was ready.

The Democratic party’s presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA), was never the border czar, despite her political opponents’ attempts to label her as such. If VP Harris has ever had a Biden administration czarship (although not with an official title) it was in artificial intelligence (AI). AI might lack the political resonance of the border today, but it is time we reconsider its significance to the average voter. When AI is recast as a sweeping change that could affect jobs, income equality, national security, and the rights of ordinary citizens, it is rather quickly tran

Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA), the Democratic nominee for president, has chosen Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, elevating a former football coach whose rural roots, liberal policies, and buzzy takedowns of former President Donald Trump have recently put him on the map. Gov Walz emerged from a field of candidates who had better name recognition and more politically advantageous home states.