<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">We would love to see some discussion
on this list about what (and how) a Biden administration infrastructure plan
should include – or not include. Feel
free to comment below or in our Google doc (<span style="font-size:11pt"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/docs.google.com/document/d/1KIwcUftbbPFosuCImIgTo9Vi7efjHqwrzLPI-d32NlA/edit*heading=h.sldtfjeu8n39__;Iw!!KwNVnqRv!Wa5eXMIDkSjQh8d6_dDL_t8KFwpsj8ARrRo6fV7jE22O2cvLuuhOnuoJXbgmEGvzFaoy$" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span class="gmail-gmaildefault"><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">htt</span></span><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">ps://<span class="gmail-il">docs</span>.<span class="gmail-il">google</span>.com/document/d/1KIwcUftbbPFosuCImIgTo9Vi7efjHqwrzLPI-d32NlA/edit#heading=h.sldtfjeu8n39</span></a></span>)<span style="font-size:11pt;font-size:11pt"></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Here are a few ideas – thoughts?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Any good horror stories to exemplify
what <u>not</u> to do?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><u><font face="times new roman, serif">Coverage</font></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">What should a federal infrastructure
initiative include?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">- upgrading/replacing USG and state
legacy computer systems? </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">- upgrading/creating data collection
systems for, e.g., underground asset data and similar needs (e.g., Open
Geospatial Consortium)</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">- eliminating lead pipes?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">- universal broadband</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">- electric car chargers?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">- secure networks for AVs, IOT</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">- protection, robustness and
resilience against extreme weather (e.g., place power and distribution lines
and optical cables underground against wildfires, snow, ice)</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><u><font face="times new roman, serif">Universal project requirements</font></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Mandate a maintenance overview of
every project with general goals. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">
What are those goals? </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Very important is the concept of pay
more now for lower life-cycle costs – how can this tradeoff best be expressed
or quantified? What is the time
frame? This has the dual benefits of helping
the economy more now when it is needed and reducing future spending by
governments.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Design for easy maintenance and
upgrading – are there specific examples or policies to cite?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><u><font face="times new roman, serif">Implementation</font></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Reinstate the Obama ARRA compliance public
tracker</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">What else did the Obama ARRA do
right – and wrong (in some cases, “shovel-ready” meant clunkers of projects
instead of good, but unfunded projects)?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Incentivize private and public
sector maintenance by creating liability safe harbors for asset owners and
operators (analogous to safe harbors protecting MDs from malpractice lawsuits
if they practice evidence-based medicine)</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Involve the public as much as
possible in understanding the options and tradeoffs. Try to obtain maximum buy-in (remembering
that pain tends to be concentrated and gains diffused).</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Force competing entities to create
interfaces for easier data exchange (one flaw of the Obama administration
promotion of electronic medical records was its failure to mandate that firms
that received USG$ had to create and offer a universal interface so competing
products could compete – the administration believed normal market forces would
ensure that. It was wrong).</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"><br></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif">Many thanks!</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="times new roman, serif"><br></font></p></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font face="times new roman, serif">Stay sane, keep washing those hands, and practice social solidarity as well as physical distancing,</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font face="times new roman, serif"><br></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font face="times new roman, serif">Jonathan</font></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Jonathan Coopersmith</span><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Professor</font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Department of History</font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Texas A&M University</font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">College Station, TX 77843-4236</font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">979.739.4708 (cell)</font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">979.862.4314 (fax)</font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div>Engineering elections: <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/security/engineering-principles-us-election" target="_blank">https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/security/engineering-principles-us-election</a></div><div><br></div><div>Racial disparities in waiting to vote: <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-takes-a-long-time-to-vote-141267" target="_blank">https://theconversation.com/it-takes-a-long-time-to-vote-141267</a></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>FAXED. The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine</i> (Johns Hopkins University Press) </font><br></div><div><br><br><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>