Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

CSTB will convene an expert committee to conduct a comprehensive assessment of wireless technology and application trends and their implications for spectrum management and policy. The committee will seek broad input and produce a report with consensus findings and recommendations. This project will be grounded in technical expertise but examine the interplay among technical, economic, and policy issues. The committee will deliver a final report 18 months from its first meeting that would provide analysis, conclusions, and recommendations based on input gathered during the study and committee expertise and deliberations. The final report will be subject to NRC review procedures and would be prepared in sufficient quantity to ensure its distribution to the sponsors and other relevant parties in accordance with NRC policy. The report will be made available to the public without restriction. It will be posted on the World Wide Web as well as distributed in printed form. Briefings to key people in government, industry, academia and the nonprofit sector are anticipated. The intellectual merit of the project will flow from its examination of an arena for research--wireless communications--that is poised for growth. It will characterize trends and illuminate opportunities for new R&D activity. Because the project will relate technical possibilities to economic concerns and legal/regulatory options, it will also speak to opportunities for social science research. The broader impacts of the project will also derive from its interdisciplinary character. The project will leverage the technical insight of the committee and its analysis to improve the quality of policy analysis in the wireless arena (spectrum management and related policy), which will affect the public.s ability to benefit from wireless innovations and economic competitiveness associated with production and uses of wireless technologies.