Upcoming event
FCC Meeting Agenda for April 2018
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Tuesday, April 17, 2018:
In an era of heightened concerns over data privacy, what more can be done to protect sensitive, confidential data?
One answer may be the emerging cryptographic technology known as secure multiparty computation, which allows parties to combine datasets and compute values of interest without exposing the underlying data. While this has been a theoretical concept for several decades, in recent years the approach has been increasingly used in real-world settings.
Opening Comments:
Mark Zuckerberg Meets With Top Lawmakers Before Hearings
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, tried to get ahead of a week of intense scrutiny for him and his company by visiting several top lawmakers in Washington and reiterating how sorry he was for the social network’s failings. He held several meetings with leaders of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees. He also posted testimony apologizing for Facebook’s role in false news, data privacy leaks and foreign interference in elections, as his company announced that it would form an independent commission of academic researchers to study social media’s impact on elections.
Zuckerberg Gets a Crash Course in Charm. Will Congress Care?
For Facebook, April 10, 2018 is being seen as a kind of dreaded final exam. That’s when Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, will swap out his trademark gray T-shirts for a suit and tie, and embark on a two-day marathon of testimony on Capitol Hill. His goal? To apologize for Facebook’s missteps, reassure Congress that Facebook intends to stop foreign powers from using its service to meddle in American elections and detail the company’s plans to better protect its users’ privacy.
Senate Commerce Committee and Senate Committee on the Judiciary will convene a public conversation with Facebook CEO about his vision for addressing problems that have generated significant concern about Facebook’s role in our democracy, bad actors using the platform, and user privacy
Witness
- Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer, Facebook
Net Inclusion 2018 welcomes digital inclusion community practitioners, advocates, academics, Internet service providers, and policymakers to discuss:
- local, state and federal policies and policy innovations impacting digital equity,
- sources of financial and programmatic support of digital inclusion programs,
- and digital inclusion best practices from across the country.
No details yet, but House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) announced that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the committee on Wednesday, April 11th, at 10:00 a.m. regarding the company’s use and protection of user data.
Chairman Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the April 2018 Open Commission Meeting:
A lunchtime panel discussion on the Tribal Connect Act of 2017 (S.2205) highlighting the importance of broadband connectivity to tribal and rural communities. This discussion will focus on how broadband connectivity and telecommunications infrastructure in rural and tribal regions helps to enhance education, provide economic opportunity, and close the digital divide. The panel will explore the role that libraries play as community institutions that facilitate digital inclusion.
Introductions by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and American Library Association President Jim Neal.
The Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution will host a discussion on technology transfer. The two-panel program will focus on growth opportunities for technology transfer as well as national security risks and the challenges that accompany innovation.
After each session, speakers will take audience questions.
Innovation and Technology Transfer
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
John R. Allen
President, The Brookings Institution