Robert S Tanner

So to follow up on the previous post of today I just finished reading over lunch Phil Weiser's paper, FCC Reform and the Future of Telecommunications Policy that was presented at yesterday's conference on FCC reform.  It is entirely worth reading as it presents a comprehensive review of FCC performance within the existing paradigm of administrative procedures for U.S. government agencies.  I do wish there had been more consideration of how to push through the existing paradigm but clearly that wasn't part of Weiser's focus for the paper.

One paragraph, however, does point out how the FCC (and really any U.S. government agency) could incorporate new approaches and new technology to improve its processes: 

In developing new databases of information, it is not sufficient merely to make them available to the public-the FCC also should enable citizens to manipulate information and use it in creative ways.^[168] At present, unfortunately, the FCC databases are not only difficult to search, but they do not give citizens the opportunity to use that data and make connections between different data sets-say, broadband deployment and job creation. Consequently, the agency has failed to spur what one commentator calls “wikinomics”-i.e., enabling user-generated content.^[169] This trend is just now taking root, as groups of ordinary citizens are combining information related to a variety of topics, ranging from crime rates in Chicago neighborhoods and L.A. communities at risk of fire violations, using technologies like Google Maps to make interesting connections.^[170]

If it was up to me, I'd start with a complete review of the FCC website and more comprehensively, a review of how the FCC uses technology and Internet-enabled services to interact with the public.

UPDATE: Former FCC'er Michael Marcus agrees on the website revamp:

FCC Website
The current FCC website design was created under Chairman Hundt and was well designed for that era. However, it is hopelessly out of date in the contemporary world and almost inaccessible for the real public. While it has a huge amount of information, needless clutter makes it nearly impossible to find anything. For example, EDOCS and ECFS, the 2 separate systems for rulemaking documents, are easy to use if you know the docket number but there is no general system to find docket numbers if you don’t know them or to find comment due dates.On the other hand, FCC is the only commission/board in the whole federal government to list all its commissioners on the top home page, so that information is certainly easy to find!

I'll quibble with the last bit though -- it would be even easier if we had URLs for the commissioners like

http://martin.fcc.gov

http://copps.fcc.gov

I wish I could have made it to the recent Silicon Flatiron-sponsored conference, Reforming the Federal Communications Commission.  The conference was also sponsored by Public Knowledge -- its president, Gigi Sohn, blogged about the conference here.  Nothing in that post of recommendations coming out of the day reads to me as at all controversial.

The sporadic updates continue. It's already March of 2008 so maybe a good time to update this site again.

• I continue to work in the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (I moved there in 2006). Since last fall (2007) I have been working as the Deputy Division Chief in the Strategic Analysis and Negotiations Division ("SAND" for short) of the Bureau.
• I thought it was time to give this site a face-lift (I had to upgrade the software to the latest version of WordPress anyhow). This theme is a bit dark but I like the cityscape up top. If you hate it, let me know.
• I've been serving as the Secretary of the local neighborhood civic association. It's a nice way to meet more of our neighbors and better understand the local issues. I've also been building a website for us -- you can visit the beta version here (probably won't spread the word widely about it until May of this year). It runs on the Drupal CMS which I actually know much more about then Wordpress. Drupal does a lot of things really well but it probably has a bit of a steeper learning curve then Wordpress.

With broadband and a decent computer and the plethora of clips on the intertubes these days you can attend all kinds of conferences from the comfort of your desk. You don't get the random, interactive meeting and greeting of physically being there but virtual attendance is a a heck of a lot cheaper (free). I watched a ton of Walter Mossberg's All Things D conference via video clips. I'm catching up a bit on Kevin Werbach's recent Supernova conference the same way.

After nearly a decade working on domestic telecommunications issues, I've decided to try something new.  I am now Special Counsel in the International Bureau.  I am working in the Multilateral Branch of the Strategic Negotiations Division if you're interested in the fine print. Looking out at the rest of the world is a fantastic new perspective and I'm really enjoying the work so far.  It's also a fantastic group of people occupying this part of the Federal Communications Commission and they've made the transition fairly easy for me. When I put up this site, I mentioned I wasn't going to

What's the point of having a website if you don't post links to other websites? Jeff Pulver posted a photo of my FCC colleagues Bob Pepper (OSP) and Michelle Carey (WCB) on his blog.

For the record, I have no intention of actively blogging on this site as (1) I don't have the time to do it right, and (2) like a lot of corporations and probably a lot of government agencies, I'm not entirely sure the FCC is really ready to deal with unfiltered blogging from its employees. But I'd like to post when I think I can do so without causing unnecessary angst for the powers that be.