BroadbandBreakfast.com Again on Leading Edge of Debate About National Broadband Plan

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2011 – The internet and intellectual property policy news and events service BroadbandBreakfast.com will hold its March 2011 Broadband Breakfast Club event, “The National Broadband Plan: A One-Year Update” on Tuesday, March 15^th, 2011.

In hosting the event, BroadbandBreakfast.com continues its tradition of being on the leading edge of the broadband and intellectual property debates by identifying and zeroing in on the key issues of debate and dialogue in Washington.

The Broadband Breakfast Club debate will feature one of the key architects of the National Broadband Plan (John Erik Garr), together with one of America’s foremost thinkers on innovation economics, an expert on disruptive voice-over-internet-protocol technology, and a leading rural broadband stimulus evaluator.

Moderating and encouraging the discussion will be Drew Clark, the founder of BroadbandBreakfast.com – and now the Executive Director of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, or http://broadbandillinois.org, which is the State Broadband Data and Development designee. Drew will reflect on Illinois’ efforts to implement the National Broadband Plan on the state level.

The National Broadband Plan, released March 16, 2010, provided a comprehensive inventory of broadband resources, collected the most current broadband data, and offered ambitious — yet reachable — goals. And the plan did this without being fiscally imprudent. Now, one year later, what has transpired as a result and what opportunities does the plan provide for future action?

This special Broadband Breakfast Club event will focus on the plan’s three parts: (1) promoting investment and innovation, (2) including all Americans in the digital economy through availability and adoption, and (3) promoting “national purposes.”

Panelists for the event are the following:

Robert D. Atkinson, President, The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)

Dr. Robert D. Atkinson is one of the country’s foremost thinkers on innovation economics is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a cutting-edge technology and economic policy think tank based in Washington, DC. With has an extensive background in technology policy, he has conducted ground-breaking research projects on technology and innovation, is a valued adviser to state and national policy makers, and a popular speaker on innovation policy nationally and internationally. He is the author of the State New Economy Index series and the book, The Past and Future of America’s Economy: Long Waves of Innovation That Power Cycles of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). Ars Technica listed Atkinson as one of 2009’s tech policy People to Watch.

Daniel Berninger, Independent Communication Architect and Analyst

Daniel Berninger is an expert in technical and regulatory aspects of Internet enabled disruptive communications and active in VoIP since 1995. Daniel’s work as a communication architect started with the original assessment of VoIP at Bell Laboratories, technical contributions to the founding of Free World Dialup, and continued with the first VoIP deployments at Verizon, HP , and NASA after joining VocalTec Communications. He won a VON Pioneer Award as co-founder of the VON Coalition. Daniel led the founding teams, created the business model, and recruited the CEO’s for ITXC (Tom Evslin) and Vonage (Jeffrey Citron).

John Erik Garr, Principal, Diamond Advisory Services (Diamond)

John Erik Garr is a Principal in the Diamond Advisory Services (Diamond), a federal government consulting practice advising some of the world’s top companies and agencies on strategic and operational issues. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, econometrics and statistics, sourcing strategy, IT assessment and governance, organizational design, and market development. Formerly a U.S. cabinet secretary, Erik led a mission review of a key public private partnership engaged in advocating for federal research funding on behalf of Illinois labs, universities, and businesses. Erik was named a 2004 Marshall Memorial Fellow, one of 55 emerging leaders selected from around the United States to participate in a high-level exchange program with European governments.

Keith Montgomery, Senior Program Director, Broadband, ICF International

Mr. Montgomery is the Senior Program Director of the ICF Broadband Group. Prior to ICF, he was Executive Officer for iTown Communications, CLEAR Communications in New Zealand and Concert Communications, and held senior management positions for MCI’s network construction and revenue finance teams. He developed the West Virginia First Advanced Broadband program to create broadband communities. He has completed broadband fiber-to-the-home and WiMAX network studies in over 15 states and several international ventures. In support of the USDA Broadband Initiatives Program, he managed the finance and engineering application review process.  Mr. Montgomery currently leads a team that evaluates broadband networks and helps groups leverage broadband technology to deliver services.

The event will take place at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, 707 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. American and Continental breakfasts are included. The program begins shortly after 8:30 a.m.

Tickets to the event are $45.00 plus a small online fee. Registration is available at

The Broadband Breakfast Club schedule can be viewed at http://broadbandbreakfastseries.eventbrite.com.

The Broadband Breakfast Club is sponsored by The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), U.S. Telecom and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).

The Tuesday morning event kicks off a more-than-a-week-long series of events in Washington marking the anniversary of the National Broadband Plan. On Wednesday, March 16, ITIF hosts a forum on the “national purposes” of the NBP. The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI) and Georgetown University’s Communication Culture and Technology Program host an event on the plan on Friday, March 18.

Earlier in March, at the Intellectual Property Breakfast Club, panelists commented on the patent reform legislation. The discussion occurred one day after the Senate voted to cut off debate and move toward a vote on changes to patent law, and the same day that the measure wound its way toward a final vote.

The Intellectual Property Breakfast Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month. Registration for the April event can be found at http://ipbreakfast.eventbrite.com.

The Intellectual Property Breakfast Club schedule can be viewed at http://ipbreakfastseries.eventbrite.com.

For More Information Contact:
Sylvia Syracuse
Director of Marketing and Events
BroadbandBreakfast.com
Sylvia@broadbandcensus.com
646-262-4630