Google hosted a town hall style panel discussion today at its Washington, DC office. The discussion was based on technology policy in 2009 with a new Administration and Congress but focused almost exclusively on broadband deployment and a smart electric grid. The panel had six speakers: Gigi Sohn (President, Public Knowledge), Jennifer Canty (CEO, Dyscern), Ben Scott (Policy Director, Free Press), Stephen Ezell (Senior Analyst, ITIF), Harry Wingo (Policy Counsel, Google), and Michael Oldak (Senior Director, Edison Electric Institute). Questions were taken from a moderator, from the audience, and from online submissions through Google Moderator.
The consensus seemed to be that broadband availability needs to improve throughout the country but that broadband adoption by consumers was also a large issue that needed to be tackled. Additionally, regulations need to be implemented to keep the Internet as an open system without false controls.
The other topic discussed was the need for a smart, efficient electricity infrastructure that uses alternative, renewable energy sources and that has the ability to regulate energy use during peak times.
The discussion was recorded and is supposed to be available on YouTube, however, it does not seem to have been posted yet. We’ll provide the link when it becomes available.